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Lillian's
Words of Wisdom "1922 - April
6, 2012" |
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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!
Soon after I met Miss Lillian something shifted for It was not long before
I understood that there was something else going on here. More than just the honor of providing physical healing. Something
in me connected with her in a way that allowed me to see myself in her and her in me. I would ask her questions, learn, grow,
expand my thinking, challenge my beliefs in the way I looked at the world. I listened and grew, and I know she grew along
with me – even at the ripe old age of 89. Often times I was the healer, and more often, she healed me with her wise
observations and experiences of what I call “life”.
What I knew for
sure from this experience with her is that we are all called. Everybody has a calling, and your real job in life is to figure
out what that is and get about the business of doing it. It lights you up and it lets you know that you are exactly where
you're supposed to be, doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing. And that is what she would always tell me: “To
live from the heart of yourself and you also have to know what sparks the light in you so that you, in your own way, can illuminate
the world." My great wish for all who have allowed me to honor my calling through my bodywork
is that you carry whatever you're supposed to be doing, carry that forward and don't waste any more time. Start embracing
the life that is calling you and use your life to serve the world.
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.
I won't
say goodbye. I'll just say...until we meet again.
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."
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.
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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.
"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."