December 27, 2009

• Arigato Obachan

  Well, this Christmas was unlike any other to say the least.

  It started out as normal with the family exchanging gifts and enjoying an early lunch together. Then Mom got a call in the afternoon from Aunt Otome in Japan. We found out that Grandma had passed away peacefully. She was 96, and had some difficulties these past couple of years after suffering a stroke. While Mom knew that Grandma was becoming quite frail (especially since last visiting her in June with my sister), it was still understandably difficult to take the news. She will be heading out tomorrow to Tokyo.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t know Grandma that well. Unlike the rest of the family, I haven’t visited Japan since 1990. And I must admit that it felt a little awkward that Mom and my sister shared in the grief, while I felt like I was just there for support.

  So, as I was driving back home to Los Angeles, I thought the best way I could honor/remember Grandma is by sharing some anecdotes about her.

  During my first visit to Japan (circa 1980), Grandma introduced me to the wonderful world of Doraemon. She handed over 5 tattered comic books of the famous cat and the 4th grade characters. While Japanese was my first language, I couldn’t read it back then, and Mom had to read it out for me. But, it did encourage me to learn quickly when I started attending Japanese school. Eventually, I started reading it on my own, and still find the lessons valuable to this day. And believe it or not, I still have the comic books. Here is the best quality one, taken with my phone camera.

  

  Grandma gave me another gift while I was there as well. She apparently was a puzzle fan, as she handed me a scrambled, secondhand Rubik’s Cube. I assumed that she purposely left it unscrambled to challenge me to solve it on my own. This took a lot longer than expected as I tried and gave up on it many times over the years. But, eventually after reading a book on it in the 6th grade, I solved that thing and I still remember running into the kitchen to show Mom my accomplishment.

  If there was only one adjective that could describe my Grandma, it would be “tough”. I remember when she visited us during the mid 80′s, and she was watching me do my Japanese school homework. She scolded me immediately on not using the proper order when writing kanji down. I wasn’t too happy about that, because I probably wanted to just finish up so I could play. Grandma was also physically tough as well, as I accidentally ran into her while riding a bike; and she not only got up without a fuss, but she got on my case for not being more careful!

  After Dad passed away in 1997, my Mom made the commitment to visit Grandma once a year. And when Mom returned and I was in Diamond Bar to visit, Mom would sometimes share inspiring stories about Grandma. Like how she quit smoking cold turkey (which some of my readers can confirm, is a difficult habit to break). And how she went regularly to local pool to get her swim workout on. Not bad for an octogenarian!

  I like to think that in the limited time I got to know Grandma, she influenced me a lot. While I definitely exhibit the characteristic traits of my parents, I think that there is a certain part of me that represents Grandma too (besides the love of baseball, and being left-handed). So Grandma, thanks for keeping me focused on the details. I hope you know that if I ever take up shodo, I will definitely make sure to write my kanji correctly.

  • 2:15 am
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