GOD BLESS: ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE.

This is a photo of Taka and Sonny, on a side of the freeway, in a small forest in Nagano, Japan. The grave is Taka's Grandmother's. We went to Japan in 1997 to celebrate the anniversary of her passing away and the moving of that grave to a new site. 

I wrote a detailed account of that trip in the series of stories called, The Cities, and re-posted the part about us being in Nagano just recently under a name: The Memories of Nagano. 

I found this picture five minutes ago. Although its nice to remember the beautiful trip, the wonder of Japan and the generosity of Taka's family, this particular moment was not a happy one. 

Things have greatly improved since 1997. At first, it was because we got used to each other's bad sides and learned to stay out of each other's way. Then I began to try and jump-start a new me, by seeing a counselor and writing this blog. 

I realized that, what I took for improvement was, in fact, a cop out! Since then I began to behave differently, even though not always succeeding to keep "apples in my cheeks" (Mr. P.'s name for a smile) while insisting on keeping dignity in dealing with Taka. 

Our 25th Anniversary.

Yes, things changed for the better for real now. Because of that, I am not going to tell you the story, why this picture makes me sad. I'll focus on the positive side of things and bless the Grandmother's name for bringing up Taka and her whole family!