Courtesy of: Aruba Daily
Benjamin Hyman celebrated his birthday with his parents and friends here in Aruba on August 1st. Ben has been vacationing on Aruba every year for 15 years, visiting from the San Francisco area of California.
His father, Howard, remembers the first day Ben arrived on Aruba; Ben ran down to the beach picked up a handful of sand and threw it into the air. The winds blew it back into his eyes, but luckily the nearby foot-wash was able to clear them. His mother, Lisa, says her favorite story is the time he went out fishing and caught a dolphin-fish which he wanted to bring back home to the United States. Ben was very upset when his fish was served for lunch!
Over the years, the Hyman family has had several families from California join them on vacation as well as some of Ben’s friends, including the Benn family, the Crone Family, the Albert family, Joey Luba and Daniel Kanak. Ben is joined today by his friends Kazim Apaydin, Ian Chapman, and Grant Pezynski, all from Pebble Beach, California.
Howard and Lisa honeymooned at the Hyatt in Aruba in 1995, having fallen in love with the island several years earlier. They have watched the island develop commercially since 1992. The Hyman’s said that it is bittersweet watching the island grow with new businesses, while watching others fade away and close, however, Aruba has always remained “One Happy Island.”
While purchasing a timeshare at the Marriott, the Hyman’s became lifelong friends Claudia and Eric Simmons, while Ben played with their sons Shaquille and Shakeem. Upon returning home, Ben will leave for the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where Kate Middleton and Prince William of the United Kingdom met. Ben will study modern history. He hopes to further study law.
