Hindsight

Megumi and Kaori at Joe’s Crab Shack!

Megumi left Los Angeles this morning to return home in Tokyo.

I first met her when I returned from Japan after the JET Programme. That was three years ago.

Everyone had a lot of fun last night, and today was a nice, intimate farewell at LAX.

Until we meet again…

Happy Chinese New Year.

Stan’s holiday gift to his pals: racing at Dromo One in Orange.

When I was going to school in La Mirada my parents and I lived across the street from Betty and Bill, my father’s good friends.

Dad used to work with Betty at a Denny’s near the LAPD Helicopter pads in Los Angeles close to Little Tokyo and the rest of Downtown. Years later we decided to move to the quiet suburb of La Mirada, where I attended a Christian school up until junior high. During my years there, Aunt Betty used to babysit if my parents weren’t home. I’d hang out with her and watch TV, take care of Suzy (their poodle). She’d pick me up if the folks couldn’t make it. Sometimes we had Thanksgiving dinners at her place.

My mom called me this morning as I was in bed. I woke up and she told me that Aunt Betty passed away this morning.

Aunt was battling Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that attacks the central nervous system, for many years.

The last time I saw her was Christmas day. We visited her in the hospital and she was surprised to see us. She cracked jokes and was happy to see me.

Aunt Betty used to work with the Disneyland Hotels. Once she gave me a bag full of quarters to run around an arcade there. She loved to see me happy and always believed in me. I told her two weeks ago that I’d see her again. I sit here at a loss and I don’t know what more to say.

May you rest in pease, Aunt Betty.

JJ is learning how to drive. Today (Sunday) I woke up sometime at 10 in the morning. My other nephew, Nicolai, likes to randomly pass by the house and ring the doorbell until someone answers. I don’t respond to this very well, but I’ve made an exception with Nico since he is so damned stubborn sometimes.

JJ wanted to take some pictures of the car.

My first car was a red 1987 Honda Prelude. It actually had race tires so the thing felt like I was driving some box with wheels. Eventually I got rid of those and put on “normal” tires. The radio worked half the time and the air never really did a good job. But it was still my ride, so to speak.

That Honda would eventually be sold off and I would return to using the family’s 1992 Toyota Corolla. It looks horrible: it needs a paint job and a few weeks ago a friend ripped one of the door handles right off by applying too much pressure to the brittle thing. I don’t blame him - the car is old.

But back to JJ… He’s taking driving school, so he doesn’t even have a license yet. But his folks stood firm at some dealership and his first car will be a Mitsubishi Eclipse.

You can thank “The Fast and The Furious” for JJ’s mad enthusiasm towards his car. I’m actually not kidding about that. I said to him what your parents or elders might have said to you: “You’re one lucky kid. I didn’t have this when I was younger.”

Jello shots. Beer. Smirnoff Ice Triple Blacks. Vanilla-Vodka shots. Last Saturday seemed to break my super sobriety and a good time was had by all. I saw a lot of faces I hadn’t talked to [in person] for quite some time, and being a little off kilter didn’t seem to hurt. Laughs and such. It got so wacky that Jon, one of my former coworkers, was practicing his martial arts skills with others. A sort of mini Fight Club if you will. But never violent.

Kidding. Maybe? Entertaining nonetheless.

Maybe I am getting too old, or maybe my drinking habits were more sensible when I was in Japan. The hangover the following morning was not very forgiving. In fact a mild headache accompanied my Sunday for the rest of the afternoon until I decided to give into a geltab of Advil.

Prior to all of this madness, I had dinner with Linda at a TGIFriday’s she spotted off the street as we drove through Brea for something to fill up on before the mingling. It was nice. Chat and good food, Jack Daniel’s steak for me. It was a good night to splurge. That Saturday night was probably the start of a brighter week, which seems to be happening now.