Oh, What a Year...

Yes, there were good things, but there were also bad things. Jupiter and Ganymede have been a glimmering high point in a difficult year as we watched them grow and discover the wonderment of life through their amazing blue eyes. I don't know what we would do without these wonderful Siameezers.

We are still renovating the house, starting with the removal a brick fireplace, which nearly demolished our bodies. Renovating can be everything between utter exciting creativity to absolute terror. When it all falls into place and I see glimpses of the beautiful house it is going to be, I say to myself, "Did I really do that? Is this really my house?"

We just lost a delightful, precious member of our family. Toshiko, my brother's wife, was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the stomach at the end of September and gradually slipped into a coma as the cancer went into her liver. She died the morning of December 11, 2008. Life will never be the same without her, but my life will forever be touched by her.

Toshi: You inspired us with your grace and strength throughout that horrible disease. Between rainstorms, I have been spending time planting in my atrium Japanese garden that we planned together, it will be a happy place to reflect on what a wonderful angel you have been to us.

My brother made this beautiful video to honor his princess, Toshiko. This is the Buddist temple, Byodo-In, located in Oahu Hawaii, a replica of the 900-year-old temple in Japan of the same name.