saying goodbye

Sunday, we found out that Satoshi's uncle passed away

He played his violin at our wedding reception in Japan many moons ago

Satoshi couldn’t go to the wake yesterday but will attend the funeral and cremation today

We will miss his spunky character

saying goodbye

Last night, Satoshi got a message from one of his friends that their university baseball sempai (elder), Sumitomo-san had passed away.

Satoshi had just spoken with him during the summer, so he was in shock.

This was the sempai that introduced Satoshi to Shigezushi when we lived in Osaka.

Satoshi left after lunch to be able to attend the wake tonight as well as the funeral service tomorrow in Osaka.

I'd only met him once (I think), he was a nice man.

Thank you for everything Sumitomo-san, rest in peace.

saying goodbye

My brother posted on FB that Malia passed away...

Thank you Malia!

For keeping me sane during those rough days…

Loved our conversations (even if it was almost always you telling me to feed you)

Loved hugging you (even if you didn’t love my hugs)

Thankful for being able to spend time with you

Love you and will always think of you whenever I open a can of tuna

You will be missed!

Love, your krazy Aunty Kat

saying goodbye

We just came back after spending the past 5 days in Kyoto.

Thank you to those who reached out to us and gave your condolences, we appreciate it!

Last Thursday, MIL and BIL had lunch together.

BIL went back to work and MIL had an appointment with her home care doctor and care worker.

When the doctor and care worker came, they found MIL collapsed in the kitchen and she had already passed.

Apparently her death was caused by an irregular heart beat.

I wrote previously here about when FIL passed and this is similar to what happened on Saturday and Sunday.

On Monday and Tuesday, SIL and I cleaned...eww to rat poop!

We all agreed that we should all pay for professionals to come in to get rid of  "things" because there is just too much stuff to get rid of.

It was so sudden but I am glad she did not suffer.

I am thankful she was not bedridden, did not have dementia and lived by herself for as long as she did.

I am thankful to all the care workers, doctors, BIL and SIL for always looking out for MIL.

Friday would have been her 92nd birthday.

We love you MIL and you will be missed.

when life throws you curves

We found out that MIL passed away yesterday.

With the pandemic, the last time we saw her was about this time last year for FIL’s 13th memorial service.

Tokyo is still in a state of emergency, so we are not too sure what we can do to help BIL though we are trying to get to Kyoto in the coming days.

I don’t think she passed away because of COVID, but I’m sure we’ll find out more when we see BIL.

I have a few posts lined up, but it may be quiet here after that.

Please have a safe weekend.

saying goodbye

You may remember that back in March, we found out that my Dad's sister had passed away.

We found out afterwards that she had contracted COVID-19 which she was tested for after she had passed.

Soon after that, we also found out that cousin E (her son) and his wife also contracted the virus through her.

E's wife has since recovered from the virus but E did not.

We were very saddened to hear of his passing.

We are thankful we got to visit with him and his family when they came to Osaka back in 2017.

Please be safe everyone.

saying goodbye

We just found out that my Dad's sister passed away recently.

We will miss her smile and beautiful singing.

Many family members said her singing resembled my paternal grandma's voice.

I was too young to remember my paternal grandma when she passed, so listening to my Aunty sing was a nice way to connect.

Sending her family lots of hugs.

(photo taken at :
Kitagawa Village Monet Garden, Kochi, Shikoku 2016)

sad news

We were sad to hear that MIL's brother passed away suddenly Wednesday.

I'm thankful that BIL is helping MIL with all the arrangements, though it's too bad that we don't live closer to Kyoto, they will be holding a service for him today.

Though we hadn't seen him in many years, he will be missed.

flickr

I started using Flickr at almost the same time I started this blog.

At the time, "someone" was stealing my photos and I wanted a way to keep track of the photos...linking the photos on my blog back to Flickr was a good way.

Back then, I had what Flickr called a "Pro account" (paying a set amount a year for more storage than the free account), but then (maybe a couple years back?!) Flickr changed everyone to free 1 terrabyte storage so I cancelled my pro account and went to a free one, cause a terrabyte (for free) is huge!

Then sometime this year, Flickr was bought out by Smugmug, which "said" they would honor everyone's accounts...until the other day when I received an email.

From January 2019, they will only allow free accounts a total of 1000 photos/videos...you know how many photos/videos I have stored on Flickr?! 20,000 plus-something!

But, I am not willing to pay for storage, which is why I do not use iCloud too.

Most all of my photos are backed up either on disc or on my external hard drive (pre-historic methods are my speed).

So...all my blog posts from 2005 to November 6, 2018, will almost certainly be affected...which means that they probably will not have any photos attached to them after January 2019.

I think Blogger is using Google Photo now, so I have started using that for posts after November 6, 2018.

I am not sure what will happen to the earlier posts and will wait and see after Flickr downsizes my photos to the 1000.

I am bummed because I've used Flickr for so long but also realize things cost $$...in the end though, I am too cheap to put any money into this teeny blog.

Just wanted to give you a heads up and hope you understand.

Thanks for listening.

Have a nice weekend.

saying goodbye

If you've been reading our blog, you know that my Dad passed away back in May.

I'm thankful that my brother was there with him when he passed and together with the care givers help, they all looked after him for the past 5 years.

We finally had a service over the weekend.

It was nice hearing all the different stories about parts of his life that I had not heard about before.

It was also nice to meet new people and reconnect with some, whose lives he touched.

Yesterday, we laid him to rest in the columbarium at Punchbowl (National Cemetery of the Pacific).

(I knew he was in the Army, and was a paratrooper, but didn't realize he had been in the Korean War!)

With one of his aloha shirts, I turned it into a furoshiki of sorts for his urn.

I don't know if this shirt was his favorite, but I noticed he was wearing it in a lot of pictures.

My Dad was a quiet man, never very chatty.

But, when he did say something, it usually made an impact and/or it made everyone laugh because you knew "he was really listening to our conversations"...

Two things that he said to me, still stick out in my mind...

"All the makeup in the world won't make you beautiful. You have to be beautiful inside."

"If your room is clean, happiness will come."

My father worked for the City's Parks & Recreation Department.

He refereed many basketball games and (I thought) his most busiest job was during the summers when he oversaw the Summer Fun Program.

The Summer Fun Program was a city-run free program (I think now there might be a small fee...does the program still exist?!) where elementary kids could go during the weekdays of summer vacation while their parents went to work (and hopefully keep them out of trouble), and where college students could practice their teaching skills in hopes of becoming teachers.

Another thing my father did was teach After School Classes (something to also keep elementary kids "busy" after school) during the school year...I learned many things from him through these classes like how to play the ukulele, archery, tumbling and embroidery to name a few.

He was active in sports...hand ball, racket ball, tennis, softball, golf (he had two hole in ones on the same hole on the same golf course but in different years!)...and he ran several marathons and many fun runs.

He loved puzzles and crafts.

He also loved music...studying shakuhachi, taisho koto, playing the piano, ukulele and guitar (I also learned the harmonica from him.).

Growing up, whenever he would go out, I would "wait up for him" to come home, of course, I'd usually end up falling asleep and he'd have to carry me to my room, but still...and when I started going out, he almost always waited up for me until I came home.

My first time trying coffee, he sweetened it up with lots of milk and sugar...

And to deter me from smoking, he let me take a puff of his cigar *cough*

One of the many things he taught me was how to smile...but, was super bad at teaching me how to drive (I can still hear him yelling, "brake brake!")...

And when he had depression, he confided in me and I'm glad he was able to get some help.

I'm not too sure when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's, but watching him stop driving, golf, pretty much all the things that used to keep him busy/mobile was tough.

Where he was never verbally picky about things, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) seemed more pronounced, and verbalized.

And when they put in the G-tube (gastrostomy tube), I think it put a damper on his eating.

It is hard to believe he isn't physically here, but I know he is still around.

(especially with all the rainbows we saw over the weekend and also those huge moths that I believe means someone who has passed is visiting you.)

Thanks Dad for everything.

I know you told me once that you weren't good enough as a Dad and that you didn't do anything for us, at the time I told you that I thought you were a good Dad, doing your best for us, I still believe that.

Where ever you are, I hope you are eating whatever you want and running/walking around.

Love you.

Thank you to all of you who reached out to us, sending us good vibes, messages and just being there, we really appreciate your kindness.

when life throws you curves

Tuesday, I got a message from my brother that my Dad had fallen and that he was being taken to the emergency.

They were going to replace the "ball" that connects his leg to his hip but his heart rate was up, so the surgery was postponed.

The next day, they noticed that he had some fluid in his lungs.

They tried to suction the fluid out but it wouldn't decrease.

It was then that they wanted to know whether we wanted to put him on a breathing machine.

He was so frail, so after some discussion, we decided that it was probably best to keep him comfortable instead.

Thursday night before putting him on morphine (or maybe he was already on, not too sure), my brother was able to let Satoshi and I facetime with my Dad (love technology).

We thanked my Dad and said our goodbyes (I don't think he really knew who we were, but I'm still glad we were able to see him and talk to him).

Yesterday, my brother sent me a message at about lunchtime (Japan time) to say that my Dad had passed away.

Even if I wasn't there, I am glad that my brother was with him.

I have to renew my passport (before heading to Hawaii) and already had an appointment for next Friday, so I am hoping to get my passport expedited.

There are some Tokyo posts lined up, but it may be quiet here after that.

Be well, everyone.

saying goodbye

(if you click on the photo it should take you to the video)

Yesterday, Satoshi's classmate, Gen, who was fighting leukemia passed away suddenly.

Satoshi is in shock.

Thank you for your friendship.

We'll miss you.

saying goodbye

The past couple of days we were in Kyoto saying goodbye to SIL's mom, who had pancreatic cancer, just like my mom.

The last time we saw her was 2 years ago when SIL's dad passed away.

Apparently, she was diagnosed at the end of last year.

SIL was visiting her whenever she could though SIL mentioned that her mom also had dementia and at times did not recognize her.

In the past, SIL's mom was always dressed well and made up elegantly.

We will miss her.

saying goodbye

In late October, Grandma had a stroke. She was paralyzed on the right side, had a hard time eating and had some pain.

Several weeks ago, I face-timed with her, my brother & Aunty. (love technology!)

Even though she didn't recognize me, it was still nice to see her.

Unfortunately, she passed away the other day at 99.

I've said it before but she was the "tough one" in our family. The one to hold our family together.

Inspire us to move forward towards our goals.

I am thankful for the time I got to spend with her, for her words of wisdom, her love and guidance throughout the years.

You will be missed a LOT!

Love you.

saying goodbye

We spent the past couple of days in Kyoto.

SIL's father passed away.

He had been ill for some time and it had been years since we last saw him.

He always had a warm smile and was fun to chat with.

We're gonna miss you!

saying goodbye

My father's sister passed away recently.

He has a lot of siblings and we rarely get to see most of them.

I am glad I had the chance to see her, even if it was two years ago.

Sending her immediate family this amazing sunset.

saying goodbye

"No one wants to hear that their hero has cancer" starts off a commercial here in Hawaii...so true.

For nearly a year and a half, my mom fought her pancreatic cancer as hard as she could, living past the prognosis she was given.

She kept as positive as she could and took care of all of us for as long as she could too.

When I was about to leave a couple of weeks ago to go back to Osaka, she asked me to extend my stay.

In hindsight, I think she knew her time was coming.

Taking the advice of my brother and aunties and with the understanding of Satoshi, I made it back to Hawaii just in time to be with her and the rest of my family for her makura-gyo (pillow service a.k.a. last rites service).

And on the next morning when she passed, I was lucky to be holding her hand.

I believe she's now at peace and free of pain.

Aunty M found a quote that says what I think my Mom might have wanted to say to us.

The nice thing about this quote is that it is by my Mom's favorite cartoon character, Winnie the Pooh...

"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together..

there is something you must always remember.

You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem,
and smarter than you think.

But the most important thing is, even if we're apart..

I'll always be with you.”

The day after she passed, this spider orchid bloomed in our patio. Her favorite color is purple, so I thought it was her sign to me that she was in a good place.

Thank you Mom for everything, I admire you for your courage, I'll miss you a lot and love you always.

saying goodbye

HUGE rainbow the other day.

I want to send this rainbow to a dear blogger friend, Barbara of Winos and Foodies, who I heard had passed away yesterday.

She was one of my first blog friends when I started this blog and had been battling cancer. In one of her posts, she taught me not to use phrases like "to die for", "so delicious I thought I died", phrases of that nature.

And because of her treatments, she couldn't enjoy the foods that she loved or cooking them. She also loved wine & bubbly but couldn't enjoy them as often.

We were Twitter friends as well as FB friends and competed on Bejeweled Blitz quite often, as well as Angry Birds.

Recently, I had heard she was having surgery to repair a collapsed lung.

Thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends and though I've never met her in person, I know she's in no pain now and she will truly be missed.

saying goodbye

I first "met" Nate, when he emailed me to find out how to set up his blog in 2006.

We conversed through emails and finally met up in person at Poke Stop.

I recently got an email from Dennis, another blog friend, saying he had emailed Nate, but hadn't received a reply.

Maybe he was busy at work? Taking a break from blogging?

Then, I checked his FB (Facebook) wall...he had passed away.

I was shocked, I just saw him over the summer, he didn't seem sick.

I am thankful for his friendship, and am gonna miss his kindness and generosity.

He's influenced some of the food I've made on this blog...here, here, here and here and here.

We've also had some foodie adventures..here, here, here, here, here and here.

Take care Nate, you will be missed!

some sad news

Over the weekend, we went to visit my MIL. We also went to visit Satoshi's grandma. It was a good thing too, when we arrived on Saturday afternoon, she was in and out of conciousness. (this photo was from our visit in January 2009.)

After coming back from Kyoto on Sunday evening, we got the phone call from my MIL, Satoshi's grandma had just passed away. She was 101.

MIL and Satoshi seem to be taking the news okay. The thing I will miss about her was her warm smile and her mis-pronouncing my name. She would always call me "Kyaria-chan". We'll miss you Hikone Grandma.