Finding Roots

Sometimes the best way to better know myself is to remember who I was. To that end I have made the trek to Hawaii where I grew up and will revisit my past and perhaps lead me to a more productive future. That's my story of why I'm here and I'm sticking to it.

My sister and I arrived a couple of hours apart on Sunday Sept 7. The next item on the agenda is Tuesday Sept 15 around 10P when I get on a plane to return to Iowa. Otherwise, everything else is negotiable.

I can't think of anyone else in the world who would enjoy being with us and understand what is going on. We are spending time seeing the most mundane things, talking about the most boring subjects, and being excited about what we see for all the wrong reasons. No one else would what we are doing and seeing.

I have been back several times since going away to college. She hasn't been. But it is interesting to see her look at something and remember it though she hasn't thought about it for almost 40 years. For instance, on the way from the airport we drove by the old Love's bakery where we both remembered a field trip and getting little loves of bread. After this amount of time, we don't remember if it was for Pathfinders or school. And there is probably no one in the world now who can fill us in.

Mom and Dad are already prominent in our conversations. Neither of us has much reason to think about them in our real lives now after 30 years. But now that we're together and in this place of common experience they come up. And in a different light than when we were kids. Somehow more human, actually bigger.

Our relationships to childhood friends will be reinterpreted. Dr. Charles Yamashiro had always been somewhat of a background thought since it was his kids I was friends with and his wife was the active parent who was always inviting us over, leading out in church youth activities, and generally the visible, very strong influence in our and many others' lives. But I called last night to see if they would be able to go out with us to eat while we are here. He referred me to Mrs. Yamashiro as she would have their activity schedule. But somehow I got to talking with him about his experience during the war. He and several of his friends, including our family dentist Dr. Joseph Yamamoto, were rounded up in 1942 while they were studying at PUC and taken to an internment camp at Merced, CA. In camp he was made the Sanitary Officer, paid $16/mo. He referred to others who were teachers and pastors who were paid $19/mo. The SDA Church became involved and got the guys out to continue their studies - he first at Union College in Nebraska, then applying at the University of Saint Louis for medical school where he was not accomodated for Sabbath observance, then University of Minnesota before being able to go to Loma Linda Unversity where he finished up. After all these years, I did not know that.

What else might I find here.