Just over a year has passed. One year. How quickly it passed and yet what a tremendous change has taken place in that one year, in that one, seemingly short period of time. Dad passed away the evening of October 24th with family filling Jean and Chip’s house with happy sounds. (Today, October 9, marks Mother's 16th month since she passes away.) Even though he was sleeping and/or unconscious I believe that Dad heard the joy and love of his great-granddaughters, grandchildren, children and Jean’s husband Chip when he left to join Mother. In hindsight, as much as one imagines that they are prepared for the passing, one never realizes the full impact that it will have on one’s life until it happens. Having passed a “milestone,” of sorts, I could start to feel the pieces of my upturned life start to settle down into some sort of order and priorities realigning themselves. NOT that it’s all over and ALL cured and that I’ve discovered the meaning of Life, but…life does, indeed, go on, although is will always be drastically different and there is be such a gap in my heart for Mother and Dad. All in all, as things happened the way they did, I couldn’t wish for things to be much different than they were. Both Jean and I were (and are) so truly blessed so many ways….and will continue to be.

Jean and Chip came to spend an extended weekend with Fred and me the weekend of Dad’s one-year “memorial.” (What IS the proper word?) It was such a priceless gift for the four of us to spend the weekend together that particular weekend. Not that we had any special observance or anything, but both Mother and Dad’s presence were with us all weekend as we shared the weekend. When I look at other families and marvel at how special it is for siblings to be so close, I catch myself and realize how lucky Jean and I are that we, too, share that special closeness. It is a rare thing and I only wish that everyone could experience the joy of being so close. (It is during times when I am sitting down and writing in my blog that I kick myself for not bringing out the camera whenever Jean and Chip are out visiting. I need more photos of them!)

Life continues to be complicated (Whoever thought that Life was simple and fair???) and Life is always waiting to give one another slap in the face. I learned over the weekend that my father’s older brother Seiji is, possibly, gravely ill. Information is sketchy, so it’s a wait-and-see kind of situation right now. As I ponder the implications of his illness, I find that those things in my life that I thought were slowly settling are being tossed up in the air once again. It’s like one of those snow globes, so peaceful when at rest, and yet, a mere jostle turns up all of the hidden snow and one waits as it settles down to the bottom, at rest once again. Is there “beauty” in that snowfall? I suppose so; it’s the beauty of Life, the yin and the yang, the circle.

On what was to be on a much lighter note, the Prius V that I had ordered has come in! We picked it up Wednesday afternoon, October 4, and it’s FANTASTIC! I’m calling it “Spaceship” since after driving the same Jeep Wrangler for over thirteen years (!!!) this is pretty amazing. Imagine...they now  make windows that are automatically powered to go up and down! But seriously, you HAVE to experience the Lane Keep Assist where the car senses that you are drifting out of the driving lane, beeps at you, and gently steers itself back into the lane! And then, there is the auto-park feature where your only control is the break and the car just parks itself, either parallel or side-by-side. And, hullo (???), NO key at all? Where technology has advanced these days! Naturally, there is a stack of manuals on how to use this and that feature. I’ll be happy when I feel comfortable with the adjustment from driving a Jeep to a car! I do need to learn how to connect the iPod to the sound system though as I’m an avid audiobook connoisseur on the drive back and forth from work. I also have to, guiltily, admit that I hope gas prices go up real high now. (Pretty awful of me, hunh?)

The Phillies were in the World Series once again! Dad would’ve gotten such a kick out of their winning the Series last year and their winning the pennant again this year. I’ve never been a true baseball fan (That’s the sport with the small, round, white ball, right?), but I found myself watching it and enjoying as much of it as I could understand FOR Dad. Is that odd? Unfortunately, they didn’t win the Series, but it was still such an exciting thing to observe….for Dad.

The house is ever so slowly getting settled and unpacked. Yes, of course, there are boxes in the garage yet to be unpacked, but we are now opening boxes that haven’t been opened since they were packed in Los Angeles, so I figure we are making major advancements. “I forgot we owned that!” is a common phrase as we unpack and, I suppose, we should be embarrassed at our excesses, but I am my mother’s son. “Frugality” was not a word in our house...or, at least from my perspective as a child, and yet was the basis of so much I am learning as I grow older. How blessed I am to come from a family where “family” means and meant so much.