One Century of Life: In memory of grandma

My grandmother passed away last month. She lived to be 99 years old. Yes, ONE CENTURY! – Unbelievable.

She died of natural causes – and when I learned that, it made me realize that I’d never seen her sick. Not once. I remember her having surgeries a couple of times for her eyes and back, but never for any illness.

What I remember about her, when I compare my (much) shorter life with hers, is that she was always busy going somewhere – mostly to the temple or to the hot-springs with her friends. Before I left Japan to study abroad in the US almost a decade ago, she wanted to go out with me. Well, I remember how hard it was to schedule a time because she was too busy!! AND I couldn’t believe how she could memorize her busy schedule with no problem. Wow, I was amazed by my grandma. She was busier than I was!

If you’d like to live a long and healthy life like she did, I’d tell you not to be so stressed out, not to insist on holding on to every tiny little thing that’s irritating you, but to just have fun instead.

My grandma was such an easy-going person. She’d drink a cup of sake every night to keep her blood flowing smoothly, although I doubt if she was thinking so logically. I think she drank because she wanted to! She also did a lot of exercise, such as walking, taking the stairs up and down everyday, and doing stretches similar to yoga every morning.

Even though she was easy-going, her life wasn’t so easy. As you can imagine from her age, she went through a lot. And I mean A LOT. There was the war that the country lost. Then there was childbirth and widowhood. She gave birth to seven children: four died, while one ended up having to be put up for adoption. She raised her two remaining children by herself during the Great Depression when she lost her husband due to an accident at work.

Yet, through it all, she remained upbeat and easy-going. Isn’t that amazing?

Just by being the person she was, my grandma taught me that each and every life is amazing and means something special.

I gratefully respect and bless her soul.

Japan Trip for My Grandma’s Funeral:

• One Century of Life: In memory of grandma
• A Memorable Three Hours
• Yoga Practice at A Funeral Hall
• Wii Fit Yoga in Japan

[tags]life, grandmother, grandma, easy-going, exercise, stretches, walking, world war II[/tags]