It's Almost Time to Snow!

Tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of the Japanese having been interned in America, it’s been all over the news with comparisons to President Trump enforcing immigration laws. I have to wonder why there is no news of Americans who were interned in other countries at the same time? My grandmother, mother, and aunt were interned in ShangHai at this same time. My mom and Aunt Jeannette wrote a book about it, you can find it in a print-on-demand format here if you are interested, but it makes me wonder, why no talk in America about the other side. I posted this on my Facebook page and almost everyone who commented noted that it never occurred to them that this was happening elsewhere. It’s no secret that our history classes do not teach real history, well not in the sense that they leave SO much out! It’s as if somewhere, someone decided what the highlights were and that is what was to be taught to future generations. I get that history is vast and it can’t be covered in the lower grades the same way it can in college, but there are things about American history that high school students really should know. I’m not going to delve into all of that here, but this anniversary for Japanese Americans is also an anniversary for American Americans. Is that a thing, American American? 

Tuesday we get to go to Truckee for a few days and boy are we looking forward to it. I don’t like to be a downer, especially in a weekly column called The Monday Motivator, but there are times that things are not happy. Life gets hard and when I can remedy things, I certainly make that effort. There are other times that we have no control over the behavior of others, all we can do is respond with our own actions. In this case, I would like to remove the source of angst, but even that is not possible right now. It’s an unusual situation and a sad one. It’s one of those times that someone irreparably damages a relationship and there is no making amends. Some will say to forgive and forget, but where forgiveness will certainly set the victim free, forgetting is just foolish, not to mention impossible. Can one really forget the lies of another, especially when they have come numerous times? Yes, there has been a willingness to let it go and give another chance, more than once and now the time has come to simply say, “This is not a feel good relationship anymore. Even though I have asked you for respect, you continue to lie to me and I’m simply not willing to invest anymore of me, or my family in you.” I’ve been trying to guide Mason through this difficulty and my life lesson for him has been, “It’s not about what the other person does or does not do. It ultimately is about how you respond. Because someone lies, judges, or criticizes you does not give you permission to retaliate in the same small-minded way. This is your opportunity to rise above their deceit and be the better human.” So that is what we have to do, we have to be kind and get through this, always checking to be sure we are being the best people we can be. I know this is a challenge for me, I’m not always making it happen, but I will continue to put my best self forward, especially after I slip and behave badly. Our time in Truckee is some time away to be “just us” and to play in the snow. The dogs both love the snow as well, so this will be a good few days for all of us. Enjoy your holiday today and hopefully I will have fun in the snow photos to share next week.