My Mother's Relationships - the Sweet and Simple.

I am conflicted or have mixed feelings, with respect to where to begin - I don't want this to have the flow of a Quentin Tarantino movie, but I feel that the "rough cut" the - unedited version that this blog represents, will probably seem that way. My mother was born in 1935 in Yokosuke, Japan; I don't know the particulars as to how she met my natural father; he was in the US Navy, stationed overseas some time around 1956 or so. I am assuming they fell in love; he married her and brought her to San Diego to live in housing near the S.D. naval base. I know this because I was born in the Balboa Navy Hospital; this makes me a "navy brat" and a U.S. citizen. My mother was always very secretive with respect to my natural father; I learned later in life that she was (kind of) protecting me from knowing the truth; one of her many proclivities - what do they say though? - mother always knows best. My first stepfather was the one who raised me, and my second father came into my life when I was 21 years old. I was never a part of a classic "All-American family" for good reason - my mother was Japanese - her first two love interests were American - both served in the military; the third and last, he was Japanese and WWII had a profound effect on his upbringing.
My mother was not very good at extended relationships initially, if you look at her "track record": the first lasted 3-4 years; the second 8 good years and 4 years in hell; the third almost 16 years. I never, ever, judged her with respect to her love choices - I know in my heart that she loved all of them dearly - particularly my second stepfather (Jimmy Kawasaki)...what do they say? - the third time's the charm - he was her soulmate. I say this because after his departure the last 21 years of her life were not the same...I knew she was never going to marry again.

Remembering My Mother

I am feeling the need to express and share my feelings about the loss of my mother in a digital manner this time - something new for me, as my previous (family) loss(es) were all in the pre-social media era; I will identify this era as really coming to fruition (for myself, in my estimation), around 2004 or 2005 (launch of Facebook). This blog will (hopefully) serve the purpose of affording those that want to know more about Mitsue and her life the opportunity to do so - culturally it will be a learning experience (you have to take my word for now).

My mother is serving as the "muse" or inspiration for this blog. She passed in the late night hours Wednesday October 28, 2015 in Torrance, California. I am not going to go into the medical details with respect to cause of death, because (for now) I don't now the exact cause and I feel it doesn't really matter (will explain in a later blog post). My mother lived her life on her own terms, was always a caring, supportive, giving person to others, there for them in their time of need. She had just turned 80 years old. It took me many years to appreciate her unselfish treatment of others, as well as her "quirky" devotion to the few vices she loved. I have included what is (arguably) the best photo I have of her in this initial post. It was taken during her last airplane trip in 2005, when I flew her to Bowling Green for my BGSU commencement; it was when I received my doctorate, and many BGSU'ers commented that they remember meeting her then. May she rest in peace - Mitsue Hedrick Kawasaki (1935-2015).