Is There Life After the End of a Long Marriage?
One man's journey to find a new life after the break-up of a marriage of more then 20 years.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
You Never Know Where You are going to Find Family
Part 8
Well, I finally got my house up "For Sale by Owner" and created a blog to advertise it. So sorry for the lapse in my posts to all my faithful readers. I was "slacking" for sure!
On the plane from American Samoa to Western Samoa the guy sitting next to me struck up a conversation. He was from Northern Queensland in Australia and ran his own vineyard and winery. He was on a business trip to Fiji and the Samoas to promote and sell his wares to the tourist hotels. Pretty enterprising of him I'd say... he was doing pretty well too. Anyway, he asked me lots of questions and I gave him the condensed version of my life. He asked where I was staying in Samoa and I told him I didn't have a clue. On this trip I wasn't making any hotel arrangements in advance of my arrival anywhere throughout my whole trip. I preferred to wander around a bit and see what was available, perhaps even meet someone who would invite me to stay with them for free during my stay. He suggested a small hotel, (only seven rooms), that he said had the ambiance, friendliness and charm that he had enjoyed immensely when he travelled there. I took his suggestion, and it forever changed the course of the rest of my life.
La Godinets, (pronounced "La God-i-nays",) was everything he said it was. Owned and operated by a 50-ish year old, Samoan/Chinese blended man, Derek La Godinet was an ex lounge entertainer who once opened for Barbra Streisand back in his prime in California. A kind and generous man, he treated all of the guest in his little hotel like family. Every guest got his personal greeting upon check-in and an invitation to dine with him on any evening of his stay. Derek was one part Samoan ambassador, one part tour guide and, for me, one part confidante and psycho-analyst. Where La Godinet's really shined was their main floor restaurant and lounge. The food was extraordinary. I still get hungry just thinking about their Seafood Crepes. As you might expect from an island hotel the seafood was great and always fresh caught.
Derek was a very popular local figure, almost a legend, and he had an endless procession of friends, relatives and acquaintances who would drop by unannounced to eat, drink or just chew the fat. He had a special charm and dignity that endeared him to everyone that he came in contact with. Every night he was coaxed and cajoled into performing his signature rendition of "I did it My Way", and every night he feigned reluctance to do so. The truth was, he loved it! He was never more comfortable than he was playing to the crowd, no matter how large or small it might be.
When I arrived in Samoa I had lapsed into a sad malaise, missing the people back home, and stayed the first few nights in my room just feeling sorry for myself. Derek noticed this right away and on the third night dispatched several of the hotel staff to fetch me down to the lounge. It wasn't long before he had me up on stage singing with the band while all of my sadness left me. By the next night I had become completely immersed in Derek's world and was introduced to the wide cross-section of Samoan society by him. In Samoa, at that time, anyone who was anyone, sooner or later stopped by La Godinet's. I met everyone from the simple fisherman to the Head-of-State himself.
Derek's cousin, a regular visitor, was Savea Sano Malifa, the owner, editor and publisher of "The Samoa Observer", the largest and only english language newspaper on the island. A large man, Sano Malifa brought out strong emotions in everyone. Depending on who you were talking to, he was either loved or reviled. Not many people were "lukewarm" or neutral in their opinion of him. We took an almost instant liking to each other. He showed me around the island and introduced me to more people than I could ever remember. Sano had been born in Samoa but was educated in New Zealand, England and the U.S. He was, and still is, one of the most intelligent men I have known in my life.
Next post, Part 9
How to get a Samoan tattoo.
Well, I finally got my house up "For Sale by Owner" and created a blog to advertise it. So sorry for the lapse in my posts to all my faithful readers. I was "slacking" for sure!
On the plane from American Samoa to Western Samoa the guy sitting next to me struck up a conversation. He was from Northern Queensland in Australia and ran his own vineyard and winery. He was on a business trip to Fiji and the Samoas to promote and sell his wares to the tourist hotels. Pretty enterprising of him I'd say... he was doing pretty well too. Anyway, he asked me lots of questions and I gave him the condensed version of my life. He asked where I was staying in Samoa and I told him I didn't have a clue. On this trip I wasn't making any hotel arrangements in advance of my arrival anywhere throughout my whole trip. I preferred to wander around a bit and see what was available, perhaps even meet someone who would invite me to stay with them for free during my stay. He suggested a small hotel, (only seven rooms), that he said had the ambiance, friendliness and charm that he had enjoyed immensely when he travelled there. I took his suggestion, and it forever changed the course of the rest of my life.
La Godinets, (pronounced "La God-i-nays",) was everything he said it was. Owned and operated by a 50-ish year old, Samoan/Chinese blended man, Derek La Godinet was an ex lounge entertainer who once opened for Barbra Streisand back in his prime in California. A kind and generous man, he treated all of the guest in his little hotel like family. Every guest got his personal greeting upon check-in and an invitation to dine with him on any evening of his stay. Derek was one part Samoan ambassador, one part tour guide and, for me, one part confidante and psycho-analyst. Where La Godinet's really shined was their main floor restaurant and lounge. The food was extraordinary. I still get hungry just thinking about their Seafood Crepes. As you might expect from an island hotel the seafood was great and always fresh caught.
Derek was a very popular local figure, almost a legend, and he had an endless procession of friends, relatives and acquaintances who would drop by unannounced to eat, drink or just chew the fat. He had a special charm and dignity that endeared him to everyone that he came in contact with. Every night he was coaxed and cajoled into performing his signature rendition of "I did it My Way", and every night he feigned reluctance to do so. The truth was, he loved it! He was never more comfortable than he was playing to the crowd, no matter how large or small it might be.
When I arrived in Samoa I had lapsed into a sad malaise, missing the people back home, and stayed the first few nights in my room just feeling sorry for myself. Derek noticed this right away and on the third night dispatched several of the hotel staff to fetch me down to the lounge. It wasn't long before he had me up on stage singing with the band while all of my sadness left me. By the next night I had become completely immersed in Derek's world and was introduced to the wide cross-section of Samoan society by him. In Samoa, at that time, anyone who was anyone, sooner or later stopped by La Godinet's. I met everyone from the simple fisherman to the Head-of-State himself.
Derek's cousin, a regular visitor, was Savea Sano Malifa, the owner, editor and publisher of "The Samoa Observer", the largest and only english language newspaper on the island. A large man, Sano Malifa brought out strong emotions in everyone. Depending on who you were talking to, he was either loved or reviled. Not many people were "lukewarm" or neutral in their opinion of him. We took an almost instant liking to each other. He showed me around the island and introduced me to more people than I could ever remember. Sano had been born in Samoa but was educated in New Zealand, England and the U.S. He was, and still is, one of the most intelligent men I have known in my life.
Next post, Part 9
How to get a Samoan tattoo.
D.A. Wright, 2:37 PM
