STORIES AT THE PANAMA
5月
3日
HERITABE PRIDE - TOMORROW'S GUIDE
My husband, Sam, passed four years ago after 56 years of a wonderful partnership. Therefore, I’m continuing the stage we set for leaving a legacy for our two daughters and five grandchildren. I remember, the whole first year after our first daughter, Lynette, was born. I watched her hours at a time, awake, asleep, crying, smiling and thought: “A year ago, she was a nothing. What a miracle this is!”
I was 25-years-old and realized there was a good chance I would see great-grandchildren thinking, “What can I do as a parent to insure those great-grandchildren will be self-reliant, kind and successful individuals?”
In 1970, I was hired by the University of Washington Library Archives to start the “Japanese Collection” gathering and documenting the Japanese Experience in the Pacific Northwest. As a third generation Japanese American, most of us no longer maintained fluency in Japanese. I had lived with my grandpa when I was little and if I relaxed and tried, I could communicate. Completing several oral tapes in Japanese, of the first generation Issei, the grant funding ran out.
Sixteen years later, both Lynette and Kelly had left for college so I decided to get a Masters in Psychosocial Nursing because I love psychology, philosophy and pursuing THE MEANING OF LIFE for myself and others. Therefore, I learned the value of story telling.
In 1991, I decided it was time to create, instead of just collecting documentation on the Japanese experience. Chuck Kato, Del Uchida, Margaret Yasuda and I gathered in my Mercer Island house kitchen and started sharing stories of growing up as Japanese Americans. We published several OMOIDE - MEMORIES stories. Thirty years later, the writing group continues to meet every third Saturday of each month at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington, from 1pm to 4pm.
STORIES AT THE PANAMA includes the general public. The Panama Hotel has a heritage. The ground and place in Seattle represents a Heritage. Current patrons and visitors of the area are invited to share their heritage stories!
Sharing stories and creating a podcast, in 2022, is where I choose to be involved in seeking fulfillment, on the HERITAGE stage at THE HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER SWEET.
