CHAPTER 14

THE FIRST FAMILY VACATION (EVER)

I once had a person tell me, “Thomas, you are the luckiest man I know.” I just smiled and inside said, “Thank you, God.”

ED THOMAS

LIFE DID NOT SLOW DOWN FOR ED AFTER THE 2008 FOOTBALL season ended. He found himself busier than ever with school duties and with the design of the new gym, wrestling room, weight room, and locker rooms. Like the outdoor facilities, he wanted to make the gym state-of-the art, with a seating capacity of at least two thousand. He had an ulterior motive. As Ed laid out his plans for the gym, he did it with the hope that someday he could persuade Aaron to move back to Parkersburg and take over as A-P’s athletic director and basketball coach. Ed wanted to have his son nearby, but more than that, he wanted to someday coach his grandsons, just as he had coached his sons.

One evening in early December, Jan interrupted Ed’s planning sessions and announced, “We’re going on a family vacation. I’m going to set it up. If ever we needed to get away, now is the time.”

Truer words had never been spoken. Ed and Jan had not taken a vacation since their honeymoon. From time to time, they would talk about taking one, but somehow a trip never quite worked out. Early on in their marriage, they did not have the money to travel. Whatever extra cash they could scrape together from living on one income went into adding on to their eight-hundred-square-foot house to make room for their growing family. Once Aaron and Todd got a little older, the Thomases’ travel budget went into trips that had them following their sons’ traveling sports teams all across Iowa and surrounding states.

When the boys went off to college, money got even tighter. Ed and Jan’s travel schedule squeezed out any room for a vacation. During Aaron’s four years at Drake University, Ed and Jan went to as many of his games as they could, including making four trips to St. Louis for Missouri Valley Conference tournaments. They also made many quick trips to watch Todd play college football for Wartburg College. Because those trips came in the middle of Ed’s busiest season, he always had to get back as quickly as possible. Jan ended up driving, while Ed worked on plans for his next game in the passenger seat. Stopping for dinner meant pulling up to the drive-through window at a fast-food restaurant.

The one trip that came the closest to qualifying as a vacation resulted from one of the greatest highlights of Ed’s coaching career: the National Football League named Ed the 2005 High School Coach of the Year. Part of his award was an all-expenses paid trip for two to the Super Bowl, courtesy of the NFL. As soon as she heard where the Super Bowl was being played that year, Jan knew that this, too, would not rise to the level of a vacation. Most years, the Super Bowl is played in warm places like Miami, New Orleans, or San Diego. Not in 2006. Ed and Jan received a free trip to Detroit. In January.

None of that mattered to Ed. He had become more and more of a homebody as he got older, but he jumped at the chance to attend the Super Bowl. The League presented him with his award at a banquet a day or two before the big game. There he found himself in the same room as legendary players like Peyton Manning, Franco Harris, and Joe Namath. Ed even got to visit with then NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Kansas City Chiefs founder and owner Lamar Hunt introduced himself to Ed and Jan. Casey Wiegmann was the starting center for the Chiefs at that time. “Anytime you want to come to Kansas City to watch Casey play, you just let me know,” Mr. Hunt told Ed. “You can sit in my seats anytime you want.” Ed never took him up on his offer.

There was, however, one other perk to winning this award that Ed did accept. In addition to the plaque and the trip to the Super Bowl, the NFL gave Ed a cash prize. He had received a smaller cash award from the NFL when he was a finalist in 2003. He didn’t keep any of that money for himself. Instead he poured it back into the A-P football program, just as he did the money he received for conducting coaching clinics and football camps. However, after he was nominated the first time, he promised his family that if he ever won, he would take everyone to Hawaii.

When Ellie heard that Ed won the award, her first words to her father-in-law were, “Woohoo! I guess this means you’re taking all of us to Hawaii?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess I did say that, didn’t I,” Ed stammered. Only then did it hit him how far Hawaii was from Parkersburg. Before that moment, he had never worried about traveling so far because he never ever expected to win the award.

Jan wasn’t nearly as hesitant. She went to work figuring out how to make the trip happen.

Finding the right time for the trip was a challenge. They could not go at any time between mid-July and the end of November because of football. From October through March, Aaron had basketball. March through the end of May did not work either because of both Ed’s and Aaron’s teaching schedules. That left summer. The summer of 2006 conflicted with football camps Ed had already scheduled. Jan decided to book the trip for June 2007. She ordered the plane tickets, booked the hotel, and set up their itinerary. Since she was booking the trip over a year in advance, it seemed like a good idea to her to buy trip insurance, just in case. She was glad she did when Ellie called one day and said, “I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”

“I don’t know,” Jan said, “I guess the bad.”

“Aaron and I can’t go to Hawaii with the family,” she said. “But the good news is, you’re going to be a grandmother again!” Jan and Ed gladly traded a trip for the joy of welcoming another grandson.

Jan rescheduled the trip for the following June, as in June 2008, the month after the EF5 tornado. “You kids go ahead and go without us,” Jan told Aaron and Todd, but they wouldn’t hear of it. Jan canceled that trip too.

When Jan called the travel agent in December to set up the trip for June 2009, she was determined that nothing, not even another tornado, would make her cancel it. She made all the reservations and then called Aaron and Todd with the same message: We’re going to Hawaii, and this time we mean it!

For most people, the point of a vacation is to get away to relax and unwind. Ed wasn’t most people. He and Jan were excited about spending time with Aaron and Ellie and Todd and Candice, but Ed wasn’t so sure about the relaxing part. That became clear the moment they arrived at Des Moines International Airport. Ed approached the trip like one of his practices, where every minute was planned and accounted for. “All right, everybody,” he said, “let’s get to the gate.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s already 8:10. We need to hurry up and get there.”

“Ed, look at the clock up there. It’s barely after 8:00. Your watch is fast,” Ellie said.

“Nope, Eli.” He always called her Eli instead of Ellie. “My watch is the official time for this trip.” He took off toward the gate. Everyone else rolled their eyes and lagged behind. No one was late for the plane.

Once they arrived in Hawaii, the family headed straight for the beach. “You know, Ed, we should get you some sandals or flipflops to wear out on the beach,” Jan said to him. “You would be much more comfortable.”

“My tennis shoes and socks will be fine,” Ed said. “I don’t really plan on getting in the water anyway.”

“But, Ed, all that sand will get down into your shoes.”

“I’ll be all right.”

True to form, Ed went out onto the beach dressed like he did every summer day in Parkersburg, with one exception. He had traded in his A-P ball cap for a light blue, cotton fishing hat with a short brim that ran all the way around. He wasn’t exactly dressed for the beach, but he didn’t care, and neither did anyone else. He walked over close to the water, and then, when a big wave hit, he nearly ran over the family trying to keep his feet dry. When he finally sat down, he turned to Aaron. “So, Aaron, are you relaxed?”

“Yeah, Dad. This is nice. Sitting here on the beach with the whole family. It feels pretty good.”

“Hmm. Todd, you relaxing? Do you feel any different?”

“Of course,” Todd replied. “My cell phone’s not ringing. No one is e-mailing me with questions about their finances. Work is the last thing on my mind. So, yeah, I find this relaxing.”

Ed gave a slight grin. “How about you, Ellie? Is this relaxing to you?”

“Yeah, Ed, that’s the point of a vacation,” she said. “It is? This is what a vacation is about? This is what I am supposed to do? I don’t feel any different than I do at home.” “Give it a chance, Ed,” Ellie said.

Jan added, “If you would take your shoes off and maybe get into the water, you might just have some fun.”

“Well, the five of you can do just that. I think I’ll find a shady spot and do a little reading.” He moved over to a spot under a tree and took out a book while everyone else splashed around in the ocean. Ed wasn’t much of a swimmer. Growing up, he had never learned how. Jan convinced him to take lessons with Todd and Aaron when they were young, “so you’ll know what to do if you happen to fall in the pool.” He learned just enough to keep himself from drowning, but he didn’t much care for the water. Instead, he was content to sit in the shade and read.

Over the next several days, the six Thomases did all the touristy things one is supposed to do on Maui. On the second or third day, they went for a hike through a bamboo forest on the Pipiwai Trail in Haleakala National Park. “All right, follow me,” Ed declared at the start.

Jan chuckled. “So, Ed, when did you learn so much about hiking trails in Hawaii?”

Aaron chimed in. “I think it was about the same time he became an expert on the New York subway system. He was giving complete strangers directions when we were in New York last year.”

Ed turned around, grinned, and kept going.

“Come on, Ed, slow down. Enjoy all the nature around us,” Ellie said.

“But that couple in front of us is pulling away,” he said. “This isn’t a race,” Ellie replied.

The next day, the family went to Pearl Harbor. Ed did not race through the exhibits and memorials. He paused at every historical marker and took it all in. Standing at the USS Arizona Memorial, he leaned over to Todd and said softly, “This is why we’re here. We needed to see this.” From there they went on a tour of the USS Missouri. “Right here is the spot where Hirohito and MacArthur signed the surrender document that ended the war,” he said, beaming from ear to ear. “You know, I’ve taught history for over thirty years. Teaching it and seeing it are two different things. Boy, I’m glad we came here.”

Later in the week, Jan, Ellie, and Candice wanted to take a helicopter tour of the island. Ed, Aaron, and Todd decided that would be the perfect time to go play golf. Through the years, playing golf together had become their favorite way to spend time together. To an outsider, these may not have appeared to be friendly little games. The three of them went back and forth, needling each other on every hole. Today was no exception. Ed teed off first. His drive went right down the middle of the fairway. “That’s how it’s done, boys. That’s how it’s done.”

“Really, Dad?” Todd said. “Hmm. Looks to me like that’s just a warm-up shot. Let me show you what a tee shot is supposed to look like.” Todd then proceeded to rocket his ball thirty yards past his father’s. “Now that’s how it’s done.”

Ed laughed. “I’d be worried if you couldn’t outdrive a fifty-eight-year-old man, as big as you are. Just remember what they say —drive for show, putt for dough.”

“You two are nuts,” Aaron said as he teed off. He was every bit as competitive as his father and brother. However, between raising three young sons, coaching basketball, teaching school, and serving as athletic director at Union High School in La Porte City, he didn’t have the kind of time to play golf that his little brother and father had.

Walking off a green after putting out, Ed turned to his sons and asked, “So, are you guys having a good time? Has this been a good trip?”

“The best, Dad. Thanks for bringing us here,” Aaron said. “Wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Todd said.

“Good,” Ed said. “I’m glad to hear it.” Then he added, “You feel any different here than you do at home?” “Of course,” Todd said. “You?” “No, not really.”

Aaron smiled. “It’s OK to relax and have a good time, Dad.”

“I’m having a great time,” Ed said. “Life doesn’t get any better than playing golf with my two boys. But we could do this in Parkersburg.”

Todd shook his head, laughing. “Everyone else in America dreams of coming to Hawaii. You come to Hawaii and dream of going back to Iowa.”

They finished their round. Todd beat his father by nine strokes, and his brother by thirteen, a small fact he made sure to mention several times during the rest of the evening. On their way back to the hotel, they stopped and grabbed something to eat. Ed ordered a hamburger, well done, with fries. “You know, Dad, you’ve basically had the same thing to eat every day since we’ve been here,” Aaron said. “You can get a hamburger and fries back home. Why don’t you try some of the local food?”

“I haven’t had a hamburger every day. Yesterday when we went on that tour to that place called Hana, I had a hot dog.”

Aaron just shook his head. Ed enjoyed his hamburger and fries.

On their last full day on vacation, Jan finally talked Ed into getting into the water. He pulled off his Nikes and socks and waded out about waist deep. A wave broke around him. “Wow,” he shouted, “can you believe that undertow? Feels like that wave might drag me out into the middle of the Pacific.”

“I don’t think it can budge a stick-in-the-mud like you,” Ellie joked.

“Hey, you have fun your way, and I’ll have fun my way, Eli,” Ed said.

“I’m just glad we finally got you in the water. I can’t imagine coming all the way to Hawaii and never once getting in the ocean,” Ellie said.

“No,” Ed said with a smile, “neither could I.” “So, do you feel relaxed yet, Ed?” Ed just grinned.