The Road to Heart Mountain - Day Four

We are here. We had a nice relaxing morning and it began with registation. We had amazing experiences as soon as we walked in. Mom lit up as she started talking to strangers about her story. It was awesome!

Bob donated the very cool things he brought, including one of the books about Grandpa Tadashi's Mount Whitney climb. The young volunteer was so impressed with the book. He had my mom write notes about it (because it is Japanese) so they would know its story. They will contact Bob if they are able to translate it. It would be cool to see it in the Interpretive Learning Center (ILC) one day.

I met the greatest person, Iesha. She is one of the organizers. She is a volunteer. She has made several trips to Cody in preparation. She has falling in love with the area and the people. The whole community has embraced the Heart Mountain project. It is really wonderful.

Tonight we attended the Pilgrimage dinner. in Powell at the Fairgrounds. Over 800 people attended, approximately 140 internees. So many great stories.

Mineta introduced Mr. Brokaw. I recorded his remarks, they were amazing. I took mom over at the end of the dinner, to meet Mr. Brokaw. He was very gracious, but I didn't get a good picture.

After the dinner, they were taking pictures of the internees, organized by the blocks that they lived in. Mom was in block 14. While we were waiting, we found an old family friend, Mrs. Ito, who is the mother of Judge Lance (Simpson trial)  Ito. Lance's grandmother and my grandmother were good friends so the families did a lot together. She told me that they families went to the San Francisco World's Fair together in 1939 and when it was time for relocation, their family put the fathers put their insurance office address rather than their residential addresses so they would go to the same camp. Mom has some little girl memories of this woman, some not favorable, but seeing them together tonight, that all washed away and good memories and that they are here and now, was the important thing. Warmed my heart.

Snow Flower...The Movie

My cousin, Lisa S, wrote Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It is now a movie. Wendy, my mom and I went to Roseville to see it (and Kristen and her mom and stepdad happened to be there too). Reviews were not too favorable but I thought it was very well done. There is a modern story in the movie that was not in the book at all and I think that is what the critics didn't appreciate but I thought it was fine and I think I understand what the director was going for. I thought, and Lisa wanted, the parts from her book to be accurate and I felt that they were; though there is a lot of detail that was not included because only half the time of the movie was devoted to that part of the story. I enjoyed it and cried for much of the second half of the movie. Oh and in case you were not aware, Hugh Jackman is in the movie! He sings in English and Chinese! Might seem unusual, but hey it is Hugh Jackman so what is there to complain about :) Afterwards, a stop at frozen yogurt. Then to Borders. Wendy picked up her own copy of Snow Flower and mom picked up Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which is a story set around the Panama Hotel in Seattle at the beginning of the 1900's in the International District where there hangs the picture of my grandfather Tadashi. Kinoshita. A very fun day!

Grandma's 84th Birthday

My mom turned 84 today. Japanese food!

I love that my mom's birthday is on Veteran's Day because I always remember it and I always have it off. Most important she is so patriotic. She was in an internment camp during the war and, though she doesn't appreciate it, it did not negatively affect her patriotism. She is proud to be an American, always has been. She taught me to never take my citizenship for granted. I remember, because of her life, that life has not always been as good as it is now. My generation is soft. We have somehow come to think that we are entitled to have a cush life, for nothing to ever go badly, or it is someone else's fault. It makes me sad and a little nervous.

My faith and eternal perspective generally keeps the nerves at bay.

Lisa's Book Signing

Thursday night I took my mom and Barrett to my cousin Lisa's book signing at Border's in Sacramento. Before the reading and signing we all met at Jack's Urban Eats (yes, that meant two nights in a row for me...loved it both times). We had a nice but quick visit over dinner, got caught up on kids and other family members.

Several people have asked how this Japanese girl ended up with Chinese cousins. It is quite simple really. Lisa's grandmother was my Auntie Stella. Stella and my dad were caucasian. Stella was 20 years older than my dad and married Eddie who was half Chinese. When my dad was ten he went to live with his sister. Stella totally adopted her husband's culture and was very Chinese in her way of living so my dad had a very strong asian influence in his life. When he got older he met and married my mom a Japanese American. So there you have it. When my dad was alive we were very close to the Chinese side of the family. I felt that I was part Japanese and Chinese.

Mom really loved seeing Lisa and Lisa felt the same about mom. Family is very important to Lisa and her heart always seems touched by spending time with those from the past. Though we try to stay connected now in the present, our relationship really represents the past. When my dad died, it was very difficult for my Auntie Stella, so it was hard for her to see us. We lost the strong connection to the chinese side of the family. For all of us, our memories are from when Lisa and I were girls at family get togethers.

Lisa had to leave earlier than planned to sign books before the event, so we met up again at the store.

(More pictures coming)
The book signing itself was lots of fun. She spoke for a while and is very funny, natural and honest. She shared the history of the time in the book, the relationships of the characters, and shared some personal stories about getting the info from her book. Then she took questions and she talked about all kinds of things. Barrett particularly liked what she had to say about her research and writing process. She was tired, this was her last stop of a four week tour, but she was so gracious and poised for pictures with everyone who asked. When we left Barrett overheard someone who was so thrilled to have met her very favorite author ever! I am thrilled for Lisa that her books are so well received. I think that she really knows how to write women and women really can relate to her characters: the good, the bad and the ugly of women's relationships.

Grandma's accident

I think a lot of you heard that my mom got hit by a truck while crossing Hwy 50 at Bedford. With everything that could have happened, we have been very blessed that she only sustained a broken arm. She landed on her elbow and the bone cracked right above the joint. No other breaks or bruises. She still can't understand why the woman hit her, but I am sure the woman is wondering the same thing and will probably not drive absent mindedly any more (at least for a while). Its put me on alert about how attentive I am when I drive.

I love living in a small town and having friends who are so wonderful. Norma passed by the accident and called Owen right away so he was down there before mom was loaded in the ambulance. All of the construction workers from Mitchell and Sons, who are working on Hwy 50, see her walk downtown everyday. When she was hit, they came down right away to take care of her and they all stayed with her until the ambulance drove away. Mom's friend at the courthouse saw it happen and called the downtown network and got the word out. The ladies who own the cantina, closed early to go the ER to check on her. I had calls and emails asking how she was doing. The missionaries called last night to see how she was doing and offered to give her a blessing.

We all agree that the outpouring of concern and love has been heartwarming. Mom is so appreciative and seems to be surprised that so much attention has been placed on her.

She is up and around, though moving a little slow and as you can see she is sporting a cool purple cast. She is already frustrated by the inconvenience of the cast but feels so much better now that it is on.