My Grandma "Pat" Nakaya died late last night. She had 4 boys, and one daughter. She had 13 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren, with three sets of twins. She was 93 and it was her time to go. She had been living without her husband for 5 or 6 years now and she wasn't really happy to be in this life anymore. With the exception of the last two or three years she has been healthy and strong as a horse. She would walk the halls of the local mall, swim laps each morning, and tended a beautiful yard and garden. She cultivated beautiful flowers to place at the alter in her church each Sunday and she was also an amazing cook, although this is part of the loss. She didn't have anything written down. No more raisin cookies, yum, baked spaghetti or New Years Shogatsu.
Grandmother was one tough cookie if you know what I mean. She raised 5 children on a shoe string budget. She was an excellent seamstress, and a hard worker. She even worked for a famous movie star. She later worked for Ropers Department Store in the old ZCMI center in Salt Lake City. She could grow more vegetables in a small space than anyone I knew. She was a grand fisher lady. She would often take all 4 of us grandchildren on early morning fishing trips to Strawberry Lake. She managed to live through "Camp". For those of you who don't know what "camp" is, it was a really dirty thing that we did to our own people. During the war we rounded up all the Japanese Americans and put them into camps around the country. My grandparents and their three boys were placed in a camp in Colorado. They were given little notice and even less luggage allowance. They lived in this camp for several years during the war. While in camp my father was conceived and was born only three short months after they were released from camp. Most of all grandmother was a survivor. She outlived almost all her friends. I guess getting old is lonely too.
I'll miss her, but I'm happy for her too. Like my Grandmother Williams said " getting old isn't for sissy's". I've seen this first hand. I'm glad I got to spend so many good years with her. I'm glad I will always have lasting memories of her as a younger woman full of vigor and energy. I'm glad she was such a wonderful grandmother to me and great-grandmother to my children.
