My earliest memories!

My earliest memories as a child are of me living in Okinawa with my mother at her parents' house. Even as a child I could feel some tension in the air between my grandfather and my mother. (I would find out later on in life why this was so.) My father was in the Marine Corps and was stationed there in Okinawa. I remember that my dad only came to the house on the weekends and stayed on the base during the week. I first thought this was strange but became used to it. I actually enjoyed it. My grandmother and my 2 cousins, Hidoyuki and Reiko, would play games with me and teach me Japanese. It was alot of fun.

Teaching must be a natural ability in my family because most of our family in some way are involved in the teaching of other people. I know I try to be creative and make learning a fun and memorable experience whenever I am teaching. My mother teaches Nurses Aides at a nursing home that she works in. My sister is a 1st grade teacher. My uncle is a Professor at a university in Okinawa and President of the Haiku association there. Then there is me, a Training Specialist teaching Autistic children and a certified instructor for the Red Cross training medical personnel. There are other things that I am an instructor for, but I won't bore you with the details.

Anyway, life was spent walking to the open market near the house and purchasing food that was to be prepared for meals. I always enjoyed going to the market with Reiko. Whenever she would be tasked with going to the market, she would take me along to make sure I knew how to pick the freshest food. Maybe hoping one day to be relieved of this burden and handed it down to me. She took the time and patience to make sure I understood. She would reward me by buying a box of rice candy and we would eat it on the way back home. She would always ask me, "So what did we learn today?" on the way back to make sure she had properly instructed me. For a correct answer she would hand me a piece of candy. I must have been an odd kid because I did not like candy that much. I know Reiko enjoyed sweets. Sometimes I think it was just an excuse to buy the candy and offer it to me knowing that I would refuse it after the first or second piece. I would see the smile on her face when she would put a piece in her mouth and let the wrapper dissolve and wonder in curiosity how something so small could bring such happiness. I think she just had a sweet tooth all the time. (My mother is the same way, she really enjoys sweets.) I loved to see Reiko smile. She would know that I had learned something and her reward was the candy as well. I am positive that she got way more satisfaction out of it than I did. We would then get back to the house and I would get to sit and watch Reiko and my mom prepare lunch or dinner. The two of them would talk non-stop, it was amazing. I would sometimes ask my mom what they were talking about but she would just say, "Oh nothing". I would later on find out that this is a term referred to as "Girl Talk". Soon, school would start for me and my cousins, and I was in for a rude awakening! OMG!