Beautiful eyes... organized... "Oooooh, that’s NICE!"... hard-working... reliable... VIVID imagination!... "Yes, but don’t you think... "... "How many minutes would we take for each question?"

What, 40 years since we left ASIJ? You can't be serious! Hello, people. It's hard to tell one's life story to classmates who were very much a part of your character formation, and yet from whom you have been separated for so many years.

The U.S. was very different for me; the time flow was different; the pacing was different; people's interests were different; and they treated each other so very differently. This was overwhelming. I became so shy that I would climb aboard a bus, and talk to the bus driver in order to practice how to converse in this new land.

Time passed. I grew older. Gradually, my family filtered over. What a relief! A friend of Bobbie's (my wonderful middle sister, but then I feel all my family is wonderful!), introduced me to a "traditional" man. Ha! He turned out to be very interesting, very bright, a self-actualized person. I was very fortunate. Then, very sad; my husband died.

During this time, I was part of the Los Angeles school system. While working with 3rd-6th graders, my interest initially focused upon learning problems; then art and language; then science, science, science; and how people learn. You might ask: "What about dancing, hiking, friends and family, and changing-the-world movements?" Well, if you are familiar with the Los Angeles school system, you know that effort and time pressures have increased enough to disrupt normality. So, I miss those in my immediate life with which I want to spend more time. I also miss those classmates and friends like Sue Riess, and Chuck, and Mitch, who are gone.

I'm looking forward to October with delight.