Sad News

Uncle Gil passed away this morning. Even though we knew he was ill and his time with us was short, it's hard think that from now on whenever we go to Marysville, we won't be greeted by his smile and we'll no longer hear his great stories or words of wisdom. For those of you who don't know Uncle Gil, he was a prominent member of the Marysville Buddhist Church, college professor of Fine Arts at Yuba College and more importantly, very close to Tessho's family. Tessho can recall stories of playing around in Uncle Gil's yard after church on Sundays. He has fond memories of learning how to swim in his pool. He vividly remembers watching Uncle Gil make pottery using the pottery wheel. I had the pleasure of meeting Uncle Gil in 1999. This was my first trip to a small town called Marysville. Tessho has always been so proud of his hometown and also of all his friends and "family" up there. I loved Uncle Gil and Aunty Lucy from the first moment I met them. They welcomed me with open arms and treated me like a member of the family. They made the long trip down to San Diego to attend our wedding. They met Tesshin last year at the 100th anniversary celebration. It saddens me that Tesshin will not be able to listen to all of his great stories. We were able to see him just before he passed. We saw him this past Friday and even yesterday, before we flew home. He was looking real good on Friday. He sat and had lunch with us. He held Tesshin a couple of times. We're definitely glad to have those memories. We love you Uncle Gil. We'll miss you immensely.