there are 2 life changing days in my whole entire life i will never forget. the first was september 11, 2011 when the world trade centers were attacked by terrorist. it was early morning when my friend bobby called me up. i didn’t answer at first because i thought he got arrested for drunk driving and wanted me to pick him up from jail. come to find out, america was attacked!
the second time was this past march 11, 2011. ten years later, my life was shaken up again. where was i?

i was in palau on march 11th. that morning, we decided to free dive, then came across this perfect wave that was irresistible. we stopped, surfed, and moved on to the outside reef for a dive. as you can see, the waves were perfect as kyle was riding one, wife cathy paddling out, and me shooting.

then as we were diving in the deep blue, i heard everybody on the boat yelling, “come in, there is a tsunami coming!” i thought nothing of it because i know that the safest place is in the ocean. we decided to race the tsumami back to the main island and head up the mountain. i thought nothing of it because i’ve been through so many tsunami warnings in my life and nothing has come of it. this time was different. this tsunami rolled over a country that i love. then it was heading toward hawaii. i couldn’t feel anymore helpless than i’ve ever felt. i was confused, sad, frustrated, and lonely. watching the news was one of the hardest things i’ve ever experienced. i felt like paddling my surfboard back to hawaii.
where were you?