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Lillian Ruriko Uba 1922- April 6, 2012 The first time I worked on Miss
Lillian as a client, I remember her saying, “Brian being with you makes me want to be more of myself.” That
was and still remains one of the nicest things I ever heard! Time and time again, I would speak to Miss Lillian about her childhood in Japan during World War II, her years spent in a Japanese internment camp – separated from her parents and the only sister she knew, learning to live in a strange land separated from everything familiar, marrying, raising three wonderful sons, and finding her passion in painting and origami. Here's what I learned from her stories: “Nobody but you is responsible for your life. It doesn't matter what others did; it doesn't matter what others didn't do. You are responsible for your life. You are responsible for the energy that you create for yourself, and you're responsible for the energy that you bring to others.” Thank you, Miss Lillian, for that simple but powerful lesson. I would often ask her, What is the secret of life? She would say, “My husband, my sons, eating at Taco Bell, and God. Nothing but the hand of God has made this wonderful life possible.” She reassured me: “I know I've never been alone, and you haven't either.” And I now know that that presence, that flow—some people call it grace—is working in my life at every single turn. During my last visit with her, I asked her if she had regrets? She had none. For everything there is a season, I know, and our time together has come to a close. I see it not as an ending, but as an extraordinary beginning. Wherever you are Miss Lillian, I thank you all for your support and your trust in me. I thank you for sharing this yellow brick road of blessings. I thank you for being as much of a sweet inspiration for me as I've tried to be for you.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* Born in 1922, Lillian Uba (Noda) survived the night of March 10,
1945 - the night 334 B-29 bombers unleashed a blizzard of incendiary bombs on Tokyo's industrial district - but as many
as 200,000 others didn't. When she awoke from a fitful sleep in an elementary school and shed her blanket of newspapers,
the city she looked out on was gone. "It was burned flat; there was nothing left," she says.
She remembers the "smell was terrible." Burnt homes, burnt factories and, especially, burnt bodies. Even the
food - mostly rice balls - tasted of ashes. The dormitory that housed Noda - an 18-year-old "dorm mother" to younger girls who had been pulled from the countryside to work with her making wireless radios for airplanes - had been incinerated as well. It was time to go to another city, to begin another leg on the journey that had started in 1936 when her parents had sent her to Japan from Sacramento, Calif., to go to school. When the war came, she was trapped. There was no way to contact her parents. All she kept hearing from the government were terrible stories about how the Americans had rounded up a lot of the Japanese people and "ran steamrollers over them and killed them." Were her parents among them? She didn't know. She lived with the uncertainty and fear and found a job working in the radio factory. She was lucky to have a job here; she not only had clothing and food, she had shelter. Lillian Uba (Noda) talks about her marriage to a fine man, Dr. Mahito Uba, and how he died nine years ago. She smiles and talks about her four sons. She tells how her artist mother - Yuri Noda - designed one of the windows in the Colorado Capitol and how she became an artist, too. But the talk returns to the war, to all those B-29s roaring overhead to all that screaming, all that death. She sighs deeply, almost painfully. "Sixty six years seems like a long time. I remember I was glad when the war ended." "I don't feel we should have war anymore. I just want peace in the world. No more bombs dropped anywhere." ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
March 27,
2012 - "Tokyo Rose and I were roommates and friends in Japan during the war." - The name "Tokyo Rose" is most strongly associated with Iva Toguri D'Aquino , an American citizen born to Japanese immigrants. D'Aquino broadcast as "Orphan Ann" during the 15-20 minute D.J. segment of the 75-minute program The Zero Hour on Radio Tokyo (NHK). The program consisted of propaganda-tinged skits and slanted news reports as well as popular American music.
Toguri was detained for a year by the U.S. military before being released for lack of evidence. Department of Justice officials agreed that her broadcasts were "innocuous". But when Toguri tried to return to the US, a popular uproar ensued, prompting the Federal Bureau of Investigation to renew its investigation of Toguri's wartime activities. Her 1949 trial resulted in a conviction on one of eight counts of treason. In 1974, investigative journalists found that key witnesses claimed they were forced to lie during testimony. Toguri was pardoned by U.S. President Gerald Ford in 1977.
***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Lillians Pearl's of Wisdom February 18, 2012 - "My 89th
Birthday" - "The Best Birthday presents
are having those people you love come to see you and to wish you a Happy Birthday. When they stop calling or coming
by, that's when I start to worry." February
18, 2011 - "Uncomfortable Rehab Beds" - "Well to tell you the truth, it's as uncomfortable
as it looks. But the secret is to hurry and go to sleep so you don't have to think about it." January 9, 2012 - "Lesson's of Life" -"Maybe
our mistakes are what makes up our fate, without them what would shape our lives? If we never veered off course we would
not be who we are today/" July
20, 2011 - "Living your life" June 23, 2012 - Lillian's Theory on Gambling and Hitting the Jackpot
"You have to play a corner slot machine and play pennies and select the
maximum bet and it incresases your chances - I won $900 last time I played the slot machines. April 14, 2011 - Lillian's
Theory on Sex and Love "It all starts with SEX
and turns into LOVE." March 7, 2011 -
Lillian's Top Ten List For A Long And Happy Life 10) Watch a lot of TV and especially the news and the Food Network. 9) Surround yourself with people that are happy. 8) As you get older, it's okay to forget names of people - so it's perfectly fine to say "Hey You". 7) Always learn something new everyday. 6) Be sure to drink a cup of coffee every morning to have a "nature call". 5) If you eat something that has sauce, always ask for "extra sauce". 4) Take a nap everyday but not for any longer than an hour. 3) Key to a healthy life is "fried foods" - eat it when you can and especially KFC Extra Crispy Fried Chicken. 2) Do something that makes you happy, like painting, singing, petting an animal, or going to lunch with friends. 1) Pray every night and it doesn't have to be to Jesus - pray to whoever you want. God, Buddah, Jesus, Quan Yin - just pray. January 23, 2011 - Relationships "Successful relationships are built on respect for each other, patience to build a life together and taking care of each other emotionally and physically are the base upon which lasting love is built." |
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