JUST SAY MAHALO®

Melody:    I’m ready, Grandpa! Grandpa: Hey, you have your boots on backwards! Melody:   No, you need your glasses, Grandpa! Grandpa: Oh, okay! Melody:   Let’s go! And so Grandpa and Melody embarked upon a grand adventure into the Pure Land Forest, with Melody’s left shoe on her right foot, and her right shoe…

As our son Akira Kendall marks his 28th birthday, I realize: (1) our son is a man, a loving husband, a great father. Our time as parents is complete. (2) our granddaughter is no longer a baby who needs me to change her diapers. How fast babies grow up! (3) Life is indeed impermanent but…

Dear Mimy, Before we were married 30 years ago, had a son 28 years ago, and were blessed with a lovely daughter-in-law five years ago and a precious granddaughter three years ago, there was just the two of us and the love we shared. You have given me everything I ever wanted, helped me achieve my…

Me:           Hey, Melody, what are you doing with grandpa’s iPad? Melody:  I changed password! Me:           Oh. Okay.

My mom, Ruby Kiyohara, kept a file of my Dharma School projects … and yesterday granddaughter Melody made her first Dharma School project, an origami Daruma. Some day, years from now, Melody will find this stuff in a box on a dusty shelf somewhere, and wonder just what the heck Grandpa was thinking. And then she’ll…

Mimy and I had our first date in 1981 at Layla in the Jiyugaoka area of Tokyo. For our first date, we both brought dictionaries: Japanese-English for me, English-Japanese for Mimy. Despite the language barrier, we fell in love and so I studied harder, we kept dating, and my Japanese became fluent, which became the basis…

In honor of my father’s memory, and in gratitude to all veterans, everywhere, who served their countries in time of need, may all human conflicts be resolved peacefully. My father wore these sunglasses during his service in the Korean War. With polarized green glass lenses, these vintage Ray-Ban Aviator Sunglasses are a classic and iconic…

This lighter was awarded to my father Akira Kiyohara for bowling a scratch 250 game, which, as any bowler will tell you, is a big deal. Dad loved bowling and Holiday Bowl was his one night out a week with his buddies. Dad passed on his love of bowling to his children, who can all…