Season 3. Episode 9. Jenn Anderson on the not-so-paradise life on Hawaii during the pandemic and how she found meaning through saving stray cats!

Hi, this is Lynne Thompson here I am on the Storied Human again. And today I have a great guest, Jen Anderson, and her little daughter who's so sweet me. Jen and I met in 2016. At a retreat in Spain, we both signed up for de verbo, where we taught, we didn't really teach. But we spend time speaking a lot of English with Spanish people who wanted to improve their English. And what a gig that was when he got wine for free and food for free. And we got to stay for free. And all we had to do was speak English. So it's hard to explain how close you get to the people when you do something like that. But I mean, I'm still friends with Jenna, and it's six and a half years later. So welcome up, there's a lot more to Jen. When I met her, she was single. Now she's married with a little baby. And she spent some time in Hawaii, which turned out a little differently than most people think of Hawaii. And she actively works to save cats to rescue cats and dogs, and she foster Foster's them to. So we're going to talk about all of this, but I'd really love to start with. I guess just a little bit about you before we talk about the variable. So welcome, Jen. Thanks. So happy to see you and in chat with you again. Yeah, I'm so glad that you're doing this. And you have the cutest assistant that ever was. Yeah. And he's intently looking at the iPad and hopefully, you know, she won't, you know, get to lab but we'll see how it goes. Okay. So why don't you tell us like where are you from? How'd you grow up? What did you major in, in college? Whatever you think, tells my about you. I know. A photography major was your major. Yeah, that's so cool. I'm sorry. Type. I grew up in upstate New York in a tiny town called Ballston spa. And I pretty much lived there my entire life. I went to college in New Paltz, New York, which is only about an hour and a half away. And I didn't truly leave until I got married and moved to Hawaii with my husband who's in the Navy. But yes, I have a Bachelor of Science degree in photography. And, you know, I've dabbled with it off and on ever since I graduated in 2011. Mostly doing freelance work doing portraits. And a couple of years after I graduated, I actually worked for a large hospital in our region. And I was there for seven years. Oh my gosh, it didn't really she was there that long. Yeah, I kind of you know, I was up and down the ladder. You know, I tried various different things. And my last position before I quit and moved to Hawaii was a residency coordinator, which was actually pretty cool. Getting to work with the residents. does sound interesting. Yeah, I met my husband in Ballston spa when he was stationed there. There's a tiny nuclear, your daddy? Yeah. So he actually moved to Hawaii. Before we got married. I quit my job, gave up my apartment, to spend a few months in Hawaii with him. Before his first appointment. It was our plan to get married. And I moved back home for his deployment with the anticipation of getting like a waitressing job, or getting an apartment with a friend. And you know, I was going to save a lot of money. I was going to do it to a variable in Germany and travel for like the whole month of August, you know, is supposed to be like my, my final fling before, you know, moving to Hawaii and being a wife. And within weeks of me moving home is when the pandemic happened the time so none of it happened. It was I Oh. And then yeah, so it was the end of August 2020 When I moved to Hawaii, right before Matt got back from his deployment. And that's where you know, everything starts. Yeah. Now tell me about the time in Hawaii. Most people would just think oh my god, that would be so great paradise. I Would love to live in Hawaii? Oh my goodness. Yes. Oh, someone that I, you know, just moved here from Hawaii. Yes. They're like, Oh my God, you're so lucky. And you know, so many times I go, Oh, you're so lucky, you get to live in paradise. And I'm just like, I'm gonna stop telling people at this point. Because I just, I'm actually like a broken record. And like, half the time, you know, I was making like an appointment for my car the other day, and she started to go on about how lucky I am. And I'm like, lady, I don't have time to tell you my story. But I have so there's a lot of people including like my dental hygenist. Yeah, I'm like, It's not my paradise. Yeah. I think if I had lived there during a different time, like a different year, different time in my life, I think my experience would have been a lot better. There were a lot of factors into me not loving Hawaii. But I think living there, like moving there in the middle of the pandemic. Oh, the worst. Yeah, was really hard. That that definitely contributes to it. You know, island life. You know, the firt this, this was my first time living away from home for that long. And you know, island life is just so different. Like you don't realize how hard it is to get things shipped to you. You know, a lot of places don't ship to Hawaii, or they charge an astronomical amount. You know, the timezone difference keeping up with family and friends. And I'm sorry, I lost my train of thought. Yeah, I like it's just so different. It's so weird back home. During the pandemic, everything felt weird. I can't imagine making like, I mean, it was just weird. Oh, yeah, I was on my Instagram earlier, Instagram just started doing memories. And it's, I can see posts, like stories that like I didn't even save and like, they're showing me these. And today, you know, in 2020, I had a lot of posts, like, you know, being bored stuck in quarantine. And man, like, it was just a few days into the shutdown. And I was just like, wow, pandemic, Jen was something else. It was just hard. I think that's it brought us. Yeah, it's insightful that you say you might, you might have enjoyed it at another time. It was just a difficult time. But you don't have to enjoy it. I mean, I remember reading that you couldn't find a pumpkin and you couldn't like I was so mad. Um, you know, being from upstate New York and loving ball and being all about Halloween and everything. They're like, wasn't a pumpkin patch. All the stores were like sold that pumpkins. Like, I was like, I'm being robbed. being robbed of my, my joy. Couldn't have your Halloween. It's just I think it counted all these things, right? It just compounded. And I understand now what I really love about your time in Hawaii that you did not sit around and feel sorry for yourself. You said I see a problem with the cats, the stray cats and I'm going to jump in and I'm going to try to help. So tell me about that. I'm also going to add the ending pic on my way out was the water contamination. That's something a lot of people in the past, you know, didn't have to deal with. But yes, so I think I did have a couple months of wallowing and you know, self pity and, you know, being bummed but um, it the cat story kind of starts with I had gone on vacation. I went home for two weeks for a friend's wedding and you know, got to spend time with my family. And when I came home I was so jet lagged. The grass was so tall it needed to be watered. And I was like It's like 8pm I've been traveling for like 24 hours so tired. And for some reason I decided to go water the grass instead of going to bed. And I remember like seeing like bird feathers on like the windowsill next to the grill. I was like spraying it off. I was like oh man, like, what is this? And I hear like these noises and I'm just watering the grass and next thing you know I hear a loud bang and I look over and a cat is dead. Jumping over my fence. I was like, Oh my god. Okay. And so like, I, for some reason I decided, like, move the grill, check behind the grill and I see two baby kittens. And I'm like, Oh my god. Um, and that was what started everything. People we had a community page for on Facebook for our, like, community that we lived in. And, you know, people would always post about finding cats and stuff. And I'd be like, oh, you know, I haven't found any cats. And I was like, Yes, this is it. This is my turn. The same thing with dogs. My neighbor had like, adopted dog. She's randomly found on the street. I'm like, next one's mine. Because I had I only had Milo at that point, I brought Milo with me from New York, my my baby kitty. And sauce like I have to, you know, trap Mama, I have to get it fixed. I have to find homes for the kittens. But I had never dealt with babies that small. These kittens were only like three weeks old. So I just, I put a box out with a towel and I put the kittens in a box and I kind of moved the grills to how I thought it'd be like, you know, stay for them and still have them hidden. But unfortunately, mama had moved them overnight. So it was actually about a month or two. Before I saw one of the kittens again. I decided to put food out every night for Mama. You know, she came back every night to eat. But it wasn't until a month or two later until one of the kittens showed up. Never saw a second kitten. I don't know if someone else maybe scooped him up. I'm hoping that's the case, too. And before that happened before I was able to find the kitten trap mom and get her fixed. My neighbor posted that there was an injured cat across the street. I was like, oh, like I know this girl. Oh, like she lives right next to me. I'm like, oh, like, let me go check it out. Like I wanted to make sure the cat didn't need to be put down. It wasn't suffering, you know, something like that. You know, she said injured cat. So Matt was home at the time when we go over. And she's hiding under a truck. And Matt just like picked her up. Wow, Matt. Yeah. So we actually ended up adopting her. Her name is Luna. She's our senior cat. She wasn't such rough shape. She was very, very skinny. She had a few cuts on her back. She only has one eye turns turns out she has, you know, kidney disease. And I think she was about 13 years old when we found her but yeah, so she wasn't like, injured hit by a car, you know, would die without treatment. But um, you know, we took her in, took her to the vet got her all fixed up. And you know, we had to keep her I mean, Matt and her just matched loved her. They were buddies from a start. And I actually brought her back to New York with me and she's in South Carolina with us now. So, yeah, she was like kind of my first rescue story. And yeah, it kind of snowballed from there. Like I self taught how I self taught how to trap, went to Home Depot, got a trap. I was watching YouTube videos, actually on my Instagram stories. I have an album of my, like, TNR journey. And yeah, so I I don't have a number. But it's fun. So I remember watching your Yeah. And I was so struck that you turn this time that wasn't so great for you into you had a mission. You helped. Yes. And the way I explain it is like, like it's saved me. Yeah. Like, it was my purpose. That's, you know, I had a hard time finding a job hard time making friends, you know, pandemic military life. All that is, it was really hard. And I'm an introvert and I'm awkward. And I'm a germaphobe. So it's like, I want to see you. Yeah, I want to make friends. But I'm like COVID but I can't really Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's so hard for a lot of people. Yeah, it was such a weird time. So yeah, I love that you turned it around, and that you taught yourself how to trap them and you you really like made it your mission and I just admire that about you. And I watched it. I read this the Instagram posts and I was like You go girl. So now I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I did. I was like way to go. And I miss having cat so I love hearing about cats, because I'm pretty allergic. So anyway, um, can we switch to the wearable? Because I'm dying to talk to you about it? Sure. All right. So just, why don't you tell us what it is? What is Devo Devo. Our boat is an English immersion program for Spaniards. They do have it like on the flip side, like if Anglos want to learn Spanish, they have programs for that too. But the one we did, we went as English native speakers to essentially just talk to them in English so they could learn our dialect and help them improve their English for work or, you know, just for fun. And, yeah, you sign up, you put in your application, all you have to do is get there, get over the ocean and get to the meeting spot and they bust you to location, your stay is free, your meals are free. And it was the best little surprise, I think, for all of us. I agree. I agree. I think that they work hard to mix the ages and occupations and, you know, keep it really fresh. And that's one of the things I love the most. We were all different ages, and from all different backgrounds. And we just got along great. We had a wonderful time, I just had one of the best. And I was afraid to go because like I told you before, I'm not a super introvert, but I'm like half introvert, and I need a lot of like, recovery time with people. Like I have to go off by myself. So I was afraid to go, but my son Brendon really needed to go because you get you get 100 service hours. Oh, that's that's what he needed to graduate and he was. Hello, honey. And he was coming up on his his junior year and he didn't, he had 40 hours you have to you have to do service hours to graduate. So he had tried to ask friends to go with them. Because he you know, when you're young, you don't want to go by yourself. And nobody really could go. We kept hearing from other teenagers like in our area that it was so amazing. And I'd been like stalking the website for like four years because I wanted my daughter to go. But she wasn't interested. And I was kind of afraid to go. But I told Brendan, I would fly over with him. And so he stayed at the team. That's why I picked that time slot that was with you guys. Because it was the only time it was one of the few teen weeks where they take over that big resort. So we were four miles away. And it worked out great. I sent him off. And everybody got a kick at where we were. They were like, Oh, you have a son over there. And I was like, Yeah, it's like kind of cool. But I didn't realize how much I would like it was so much fun. Same. My friend posted on Facebook, like, Hey, does anyone want to go do this program with me? And I just saw that it was in Spain. And I was like me, I want to go on vacation like awesome. And it wasn't until like we got to the welcome dinner that I was started freaking out because I am an introvert and I am shy. And oh my God, what did I get myself into? I can't do this, like totally freaking out totally wanting to just like run away. And I go. So I think that's funny that we felt the same. But yeah, it ended up being the most like amazing experience. Yeah. And I just think they, they schedule these things like we do these like one on ones and we eat meals, like you can't eat with all Anglos, you have to have half Spanish. Yeah. It's also wonderful because you just get so comfortable. And so speaking English and learning is just sort of natural, instead of you know, instead of artificial or tutoring. And the Spanish people, I just think also Spanish people are so great. I just think they are you know, they're just so I had spent time in Spain a million years ago, teaching and living there. And they were just, I felt like they were so amazing. Because like my Spanish was like non existent. And I would try a little bit. And they were so encouraging, which is like the opposite of when you're in Paris, you know? Oh, yeah. Like that was my first hint that Spanish people are cool. Yeah, I love this culture. Yeah. And just what I wasn't counting on you and I talked about was how close I would feel to the other teachers. Like they became my friends to people from Australia and Canada, England and Ballston spa, you know, I just was like, Whoa, this is so cool. But I really think that if you want to do something like this, then you're probably a cool interesting person. Like, I'm gonna like, you know, and I wasn't even thinking of that, like how close you get no idea. And you know, we have, we have like lifelong friends now Anglos and Spaniards and When Matt and I went to Italy in 2018, I mean, Sam, we're in like the same little town in Italy. And we met up, you know, for a quick coffee. And it was just, you know, it's like what a small, small world. And it's another one of the Spaniards, was actually in the same town the same day, but he had already left. So it's just like, it's just, it's really cool. It is. And I compare that to you know, I've traveled my whole life, my dad was a pilot, so we were very lucky to travel. You don't make friends, when you travel, not like this. It's just so different. And that's kind of what ignited us to kind of, you know, like, branch out and try to make friends traveling because my friend and I had gone on a few more trips after that. And like the last trip, we went on, and 29. Like, we made a few friends, and it was just so amazing opens you up to just all these new experiences, people and people you're still friends with. And it really is awesome and awesome. Channel. Yeah, it opens your whole, like, the way I look at it. I don't know, I just, I was so happy I did it. So I just want to do a plug for do barebow please check it out. Please tell your friends tell your teenagers because it's a fan. Every teen I've ever talked to who did it. Like was crazy for it, like loved it. They run such a good program so safe, and it's so fun. I think me is gonna grow up and do it. Yes, absolutely. She's going to be my little world traveler. I love that. So I just got so much out of it. And now we still talk. I mean, it's a little bit less now on the WhatsApp group. But just the enthusiasm everyone had for staying in touch. It's just unusual. It's just the coolest. Yeah, like we had a big group. But like we had such an amazing group. And I remember me and my friend, we both basketball were like were your favorite group, right? Like we were the best. Right? And he he very nicely, you know, said yes. But every grouping, so the best regroup and they're not wrong, you know? So it's always fun. Yeah, like, I mean, everyone's just so nice and easygoing. And it's just so easy to create those bonds. It is what a great way to say it. I don't think you do that. Unless you're that kind of person. Yeah. I think it's really cool. And I learned a lot I learned a whole lot about. It's amazing what you talk about, right? Like you talk about if you like to cook, or you like to go biking or whatever you do. You're talking about it in English. And the Spanish people had a lot to say about how they live their lives. And I learned a lot. Yeah, it was really cool. So I'm dying to do it again. I want to do Germany definitely. Would love to do Germany. And I don't know, I just think what, there is something magical about how they put people together. They don't. I think they really do a mix. It's like a recipe and they know how to do it. Yeah, absolutely. Oh, yeah. Variety. Yeah. And yeah. You know, obviously, you and I have like a little bit of an age gap. And like, Oh, we're still a big age gap. But that's the beauty of we have a huge age gap. Yeah, I think I told you last time, you know, for one of our activities. I think Moises was like teaching us salsa. And I just remember Tony, Tony was an Anglo and he's super tall, older gentleman, and I remember him just like throwing me around like dancing. And I was like, yeah, like, this is like, this is so fun. You just wouldn't have that. Right. Like we wouldn't have that. I just thought it was so cool. So yes, yay, to verbo forever. So tell me when I met you, you were single. And now your life is totally different. What is it been like with them? What is it like? It's totally different, but like, she is so amazing. Like, I could not have asked for a better baby. Do you have a good I say, I don't know. How I got so lucky. Like, I guess I didn't really know what she was going to be like I didn't even notice this G we didn't find out until she was thought it was gonna be a boy right? I was totally convinced it was a surprise to you. She did but she's so beautiful. And she looks like me. I was totally expecting the baby to look like now because on the ultrasound pictures just everything about it reminded me of him. So but she's still beautiful, but she looks like me. I'm like a so beard. And she's such a happy baby. Such an easygoing baby. She like she's smart. Like you said she was like those old soul eyes and she just has a presence like the way she looks very calmly into the camera. That's not us. You will, but you can usually I feel like I can tell. Yeah, she Yeah, she always looks so intently like her toys and like, I love watching her look at things and just look at her face. Like, you know, she's thinking about something. And she's seven months now, but like her hand, dexterity has been amazing for a while, the way she likes to look at her toys and move them in her hand. She's like, starting to get ready to crawl like she wants to. She's like, rolling all over the place. I gotta say, I wish this video interview because she's adorable. Oh, my God posted picture. Maybe I'll take a clip. Because she is she's just absolutely adorable. So you, you just naturally moved into a whole different life. And it feels it looks great. To me. I don't know if it was natural. The Navy life is just weird. And it's Yeah, that's a little different. Yeah. Like, I was single at De barebow didn't think I was ever gonna get married and think I was going to ever find anyone, you know, thought I was just going to travel the rest of my life. And and now you know, I'm in South Carolina, which is weird, you know, with the baby. And yeah, it's, it's so weird to think about how different life was in 2016. And you know how it is now. But like I said, Yeah, I want her to be my little world traveler. She's gonna be my travel buddy. I want her you know, to learn Spanish and be bilingual. And I think you're gonna make it happen. That I think you're right. Yes. No doubt. Either have like, a Spanish speaking nanny, or, you know, put her in like a Spanish preschool, you know, get her traveling young, like, you know, I want her to travel and be culture to have opportunities that I didn't get to have. I do I do that. Yeah. So we might help our kids be more global, right? Yeah. I didn't. I didn't see an ocean until I was 18. I didn't get on a plane until I was like 22, I think and my first plane ride was to London, actually, first time in Europe. Yeah, so yeah, just want to give her all the opportunities. And hopefully she likes it. And you know, we have three cats in the house. Now. Well, four winners in the garage. He's well taken care of. But I want to teach her to be an animal lover and, you know, do rescue and foster with me and just teach her to be really gentle and caring with the world. And yeah, that sounds like a plan. I like that. Well, thank you for sharing yourself with us. I thought that was great. And people need to hear like different, different stories about what we do, you know, like different things they can do. Yeah, well, I'm so glad you wanted to talk. I honestly didn't think I was like that interesting. But you know, I love your life. Talk about why you didn't like Why, oh, my cats are interesting. Everyone is here's the big secret. Everyone has a story everyone does. I think you're my 42nd interview. Every person had a story, even the person who swore she didn't. This person, a friend of mine who said, Man, I really have a story like you. And you know that person in particular. She, she got married really young. Like, I think she was 18 or 19. She was in college, and she met her sweetheart. And she had a baby at 20. And then two more babies in her 20s. And she never finished college. And she's 29. And she's sitting there having coffee at somebody's house during the day. And she's like, I don't want to do I want to work. So she goes home. And she tells her husband, I want to go back to school. And he's like, okay, and her brother worked at Bell Labs and really was raving about computer science. This is 1980 Oh, my new woman said I want to go back to school and study computer science. But she did. And she got a degree with three kids at home. She worked at Bell Labs. And she loved it. And she worked not just in computer science, but in the hardware side. Like she would go into, you know, meetings with all men at to train them and they'd be like, where's our teacher? So I was like, Oh, my, I was like, Ellen, that's a story. Stop thinking you don't have a story. That's once you have more than one story. So yeah, that's awesome. And yeah, it's so funny because you pointed out a few things, just from what you observed from my social media presence and I I love that you're paying mean attention, I guess like when you're behind the screen you doing it like sometimes I'm just like, yeah, why am I doing this but like, I love that you noticed and you know that you have like all these like, you know positive things to say about it. That's so sweet. Well then I just like you and I felt connected to you. And then was very excited when you got married and very excited when you had a baby. And so I'm sort of experiencing I remember what that felt like to have a chubby little sweet baby girl. Like that's what I had. She doesn't look that different from Katherine. Seven months, Catherine had some, you know, she had some foals. She could see and we'll loved it. Oh, we loved it. It's such a healthy thing for a baby. Yeah, so I relate to you. But um, yeah, I was paying attention and it's, again, an interesting story. So I want to I want to say thank you. Yes, thank you too. This is an awesome