If asked to describe to you the perfect day, I would tell you about December 11, 2020.
To set the scene, I want you to picture a Nissan Sentra. A deep blue, majestic vehicle, the kind you find in the lovely Enterprise rental parking lot at any airport. All black interior, and most importantly, equipped with an auxiliary cord. Now this sweet ride may not look like much to some, but it was the vehicle that gave my best friend and I the ride of our life, and for that, I will always be grateful.
When Haley and I landed in Maui’s Kahului Airport, we picked up the keys to our Nissan Sentra, our first ever rental car, and headed to the North side of the island. The two of us had hours to kill before we could check-in to our Airbnb, so we went straight to the beach, bags in hand. We stepped onto the white sand and quickly realized neither of us had packed the one thing we needed most – a towel. So, we laid down, belly first, smothering ourselves head to toe. After hours in the sun, we covered the Sentra in sand as we piled back in and headed for our new temporary home. We finally made it to our little cottage in
Haiku-Pauwela, and rested up for the adventure that awaited.
The next morning, December 11th, Haley and I packed our day bags and headed for Hana, a tiny town on the Northeast side of the island. To get to Hana, there is only one way in. One highway, 64 miles, 620 curves and 59 bridges, 46 of which are only one-lane. To put it simply, the Hana Highway is not for the faint of heart. It is an all-day, often white-knuckles experience, but if you can stomach the twists and turns, it is an experience you will never forget. To my best friend Haley, this was no challenge at all. If there is an opportunity to explore, Haley is going to seek it out, no matter what, so we buckled up (me in the passenger seat, of course) and began our ride. We spent 6 hours on that road, Haley pushing the gas. Stopping at hidden waterfalls, banana bread stands, and black sand beaches, passing flora that one would only imagine existed in Dr. Seuss books (there are literally rainbow trunk trees). Every mile and moment absolutely took my breath away, it was as good as Earth gets. But it wasn’t the scenery that made it the best day of my life. It was the person powering the Nissan Sentra, sitting right next to me. It was the
six hours of scream-singing our favorite songs as loud as we could, laughing and probably crying too. It was a whole day where we unplugged from the world, and it was uninterrupted Haley time. To me, that is all it takes.
The world knew that Haley and I were destined to be best friends long before we did. As the summer before third grade came to an end, my mom was called into my elementary school to meet with the principal. She sat her down and told her that due to some last-minute shuffling, they would be putting me in a different class, one with some big personalities and a somewhat difficult teacher. My mom was not the least bit worried about the switch, but to ease any potential anxieties, the principal made sure to add a silver lining, saying:
“There will be a girl in this class that we think Katie will be great friends with,
her name is Haley Hiemstra.”
The term great friends turned out to be the understatement of the century. Haley is the person that gets me most. We have mastered the art of interpreting the slightest eyebrow raises, widened eyes, and tonal changes in each other – we speak each other’s language. She is my encourager, and she assumes this role so well because she is, in a lot of ways, my opposite. Haley is unbridled, the type of woman people make movies about. She is a free spirit who falls in love with every moment she meets. A whirlwind of passion and untamed ambition, who often has her feet running full speed ahead well before knowing where she will end up. Her eyes light up when she talks about the things she loves, and she illuminates every room she walks into. When I am looking for someone to give me the push I need, I go to her. She tells me what I need to hear, even when I don’t want to hear it. She helps me keep my head in the clouds and I help ground her feet in the soil beneath her. She is my home in human form.
During our senior year of high school, Haley told me about Long Island University–Global, the school she desperately wanted to attend in the fall. This was no regular school, and the second she started talking about it, my whole body became tense. In this program, Haley would spend every semester in a different country, and the thought of her being a world away terrified me. Selfishly, I did not want her to go, and I fought for her to stay. I desperately wanted to keep her close – missing her was too high a price. But she was determined, and thank God for that, because she was built to see the world, and I could not hold her back. I eventually got on board, knowing that my favorite parts of Haley were the same parts calling her towards this adventure. And what an adventure it has been. She has now lived in/traveled to Costa Rica, Colombia, Italy, Morocco, Spain, Vienna, France, Bosnia, and much more, with my personal favorite destination being Hawaii, where I joined her for her last month on the island.
We spent much of our time in Hawaii under the stars, staring up at the cosmos that painted the skies. I lay there knowing I would miss those moments for the rest of my life. We talked for hours, just as we always do, about our childhoods, our futures, how big the world is and how small it made us feel. And we sang. A lot. In the airports, the water, the jungle, and the Sentra – you can always hear us before you see us, and man it is special to have someone who sings with you like nobody is watching. One of the songs that brings me back to that island and back to Haley when she is far, far away is Miss You So Much, by the one and only, Miley Cyrus. She sings:
When you look up at the cosmos
Do you ever wonder if there's really even an end?
It might go on forever, like my love for you
An amount that's hard to even comprehend
I won't waste my time with wonder, in apprehension, or
living life in fear
But how can I miss you so much when you're right here? While I miss her more than anything in the world when she is overseas, in a way, she never really leaves. I can hear her voice in every decision that I make as I constantly find myself thinking, “What would Haley do?” And when I need to hear that voice out loud, she is always a phone call away, no matter the distance. Haley, thank you for always being right here. Thank you for showing me the wonders of the cosmos and for teaching us all how to live boldly. Thank you for singing with me, for wiping my tears, and for being my encourager. Cheers to the Nissan Sentra, to the Dr. Seuss trees, to our random/weird third-grade class, to choir robes and morning popsicles, and to me and you, through and through.
Honorable mention, the Sentra.
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