Editor’s note. Welcome to Community Voices, a new weekly column designed to share the voices of our community. The idea is to have a different column each Monday – recipes, personal stories, local historical, topical subjects, book reviews—you get the idea. When I saw Chasity Shepley’s social media post of a class assignment written by her 15-year-old daughter, I knew it would be a great Community Voices contribution. Thankfully Reign and her mom agreed. A young girl moves from Maui to … Oklahoma. Now, that’s an interesting story. Please sign up to be the next (or future) Community Voice contributor.

THE MOVE

By Reign Shepley

 It was like any other winter day. Even in winter, It always felt like summer in Maui, Hawaii. The school day dragged on as ever, but thankfully, my mom finally picked me up. She drove a white, four-door Dodge Durango with two racing stripes down both sides of the hood and fully blacked-out tinted windows. We started driving home for a while in awkward silence. It was very surprising considering we normally vent about our events, good or bad experiences we had throughout the day. This time, however, our car was filled with tension, to the point where even my non-stop talking siblings felt the need not to speak. I started getting suspicious. When we got home, we unpacked and took an outside break for thirty minutes. My mom stood at the door of our well-loved, partially chipped, greenish-blue house that we had spent thirteen years living in and renting. I was called, alongside my siblings, to come steadily inside.

As we walked through the wooden door frame, we were told to sit on the soft, light grey carpet of our living room floor. I instinctively noticed my mom’s family, who lived on the second story of our elderly home. Sitting there, I noticed that both of my parents wore a mildly depressed expression, their eyes filled with displeasure, faces full of sullenness. It was odd, considering that they usually have a cheerful demeanor, delighted smiles, and are carefree.

Hearing the News

Scanning the living room, I observed that my mom’s family all had red, drooping eyelids as if they had been quietly crying for a while together. My mama’s lip trembled as clear tears formed in her deep brown eyes. My papa, who rarely shows much sadness, who normally expressed himself with a cool expressive tone, nonchalant, and articulately chirpy, had his head turned downwards, and his shoulders slumped against our overused, old, frayed, and faded black leather couch. I glanced at my siblings, who all wore puzzled expressions, their faces reflecting a sense of bewilderment. 

My mother closed her eyes, took a long-lasting deep breath in through her nose, then slowly exhaled out of the crevice between her lips to shake some of the anxiety away. She then gradually opened her mouth, now prepared to speak to break the stillness, as she began quietly, jittery, and anxiously, explaining that we would be moving away from the place we had called home for the past thirteen years; to another world of wonder, countless miles away, to the state of Oklahoma. I understood their faces, as if it had just been taken by a Polaroid camera, steadily revealing the picture. During her closing, my mother stated I had only a few weeks to pack my necessities.

The Huge Reality Check

While at first we took it lightly, almost as if it was all a fever dream, it became a huge reality check. My friends were devastated when they heard the news. They fell onto their knees in complete denial, trying to understand the news that none of us saw coming. During these blue weeks, I had to say goodbye to the people and places that helped shape me into who I was. As heartbreaking as it was, we knew it was the best decision we could make.  My best friend came to help with folding laundry and giving me mental support to persevere in God’s decision for this reluctant family of six. 

 After weeks of relenting packing, the moving day was finally around the corner.  I had chosen my favorite items that would fit on the plane in my carry-on and backpacks that I would want once we reached our destination. Trying to enter into my mom’s Dodge Durango was an excruciating opponent, and it became my adversary. I knew entering and fastening my seatbelt, surrounded by language, felt like entering a new portal. Driving down our long, paved driveway, I looked out the car’s window, waving to our beloved family home. It felt like we were celebrities as we drove to the airport with the entourage of cars filled with my family tailing us to the airport. Although it was only a twenty-minute drive, it felt like time became non-existent. 

Soaring into the Azure Sky

We arrived at Kahului Airport, still having the ball of emotions unraveled and tangled like yarn. We spent thirty minutes just trying to get the ball of yarn under control. After saying goodbyes, hugging, and wiping our newly shed tears, we walked inside the airport. We would be staying and sitting in the Kahului Airport for five hours in unwavering tiredness. Reflecting on the hectic weeks we had persevered, although all I could think about at that moment was getting to our gate and sitting down on those creaky, dark blue leather seats that are tightly bolted to the floor. 

Sitting there was definitely not easy, we had many times where we just wanted to sprint and retreat back to the comforts of home. All those cherished memories came rushing in like a swift current, charging in like flowing blood running through my veins. I needed to think positively as if I were hiking an uncharted trail to reach my enigmatic destination. Watching the planes, one after another, soar off in the azure sky, departing the ground on this beautiful island surrounded by seawater, our plane was finally ready for boarding.  While standing in line waiting, I looked through the massive window, staring at the fixed-wing aircraft. The base of the Hawaiian aircraft was elegantly decorated with vibrant Hawaiian flower patterns, as if we were taking some Hawaiian culture overseas with us. Amidst my only belongings by my side, our tickets were scanned, and we began to turn in the guarded hallway to get access to the stomach of the plane. This was the fifth step to this new, drastic beginning. I stood directly facing the front entrance, being greeted warmly. It started feeling as if a train had decided to hit my beating heart. As I sat down next to the window, against the cold inner body of the aircraft, I caught myself gazing out into the stunning morning sky; the sadness quickly began to disperse, being replaced with excitement about this adventure.

A Soccer Tournament in Las Vegas

 Our first stop was in Las Vegas. The flight was laid-back, a whopping five-hour and thirty-five-minute ride. It was January 15th, 2022, I had my last soccer tournament with my team I had constantly spent eight years with at two-hour practices, five days a week. They were many brilliant, skillful, kind-hearted friends, even a cousin who had explosive kicks, and together, we created fond memories through those years. I had the honor to invite the majority of them onto the team. Over the years, we had become one of the best soccer teams on the island of Maui, and together, we put in a lot of buckets of sweat and made it possible to travel to a Vegas Cup Tournament! 

Alongside my teammates, we fought through many battles in the freezing temperatures of the Vegas tundra. These tough conditions made battling in these games rough, making us only able to come in 4th place out of the other nine teams we had faced. I soon realized it was my final game with them, we all huddled tightly together. I was in the center surrounded by them as if they became penguins, giving many warm bear hugs, and crying our tired eyes out from the exhaustion of the battles we had overcome. Reflecting on the times together — the many hard games, waking up early, unfair calls, other teams cheating, tough training exercises, injuries, and wanting to quit or give up — we recognized we had endured through it all together. 

The Last Leg of the Journey

The time we had left on the trip became a worthwhile memory. We used this final opportunity to hang out by going bowling, strolling through malls, and experiencing the Seven Magic Mountains with their eye-catching seven pillars of brightly colored intricate enormous boulders that were neatly stacked vertically on top of one another that soared thirty to thirty-five feet into the air. We also explored Circus Circus, which had many butterfly-feeling indoor rides. It was such a pleasant final time we had together. Eventually, the time came to part ways.  

While my team headed back to the island of Maui, my family and I decided to stay in Las Vegas for a few more days, with my aunt and uncle, who already lived in Las Vegas, to help pick up our puzzle pieces of emotions. Those days really helped give me the strength to pick up my luggage and say, “Alright, it’s time to keep my head up, and move forward.” It was a wonderful time staying with them, but at last, we had to gather all of our luggage to hit the road. We drove for a lengthy period of time with gloom floating and lingering in the air till we reached the Harry Reid International Airport. Thankfully, the plane ride was only two hours and twenty-five minutes until we reached our new era  — Oklahoma.

Greetings, Reign Shepley here! This new era for the past three years in Oklahoma has been like Frontier City’s marvelous rides! I am homeschooled and in the 10th grade now! I am also doing college courses through Oklahoma Christian University! As a 15-year-old (soon to be 16), living here has been wonderful! It’s not like Maui, Hawaii, but this is my new home and hometown! I have met a bunch of wonderful people and have joined multiple soccer teams who are just as wonderful to play with as my team back on the island! It did take a while to adjust, but the support of my dad’s family here in Oklahoma, family, and friends from Maui turned this new reality in my favor!

This was a wonderful experience to be able to share my story with the public for the very first time! May God bless you, and Thank you so much for reading my story about moving to this new bewitching country!  I wanna thank Dawn Shelton for this opportunity!

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