On Sunday November 3rd we took a walk to Marine Stadium: A beautiful day. The water sparkled. Peaceful Sunday walk. This big turquoise and white boat reminded me of our old 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. I really loved that car. That was maybe my dad’s first new car. It felt really special.
This picture of my dad popped up on my phone with this caption to reimagine my photo with a creative backdrop. If you knew my dad this would make you laugh. He was a quiet, reserved man that would happily sit and watch people at a party rather than be the center of attention. Sparkly Disco backgrounds were not my dad’s thing. In his later years he got into acting bit parts in movies by accident . Again highly unlikely given his quiet demeanor. This somehow made him very attractive to casting personnel. Without trying in a lineup he would easily snag a good role. He was on shows like Moonlighting, Cagney and Lacey, General Hospital. One time he was supposed to say a line when this guy runs in and interrupts a card game. The guy runs in and my dad misses his cue. The director yells cut and says Bill you didn’t say your line when the guy came in. What happened? My dad said “I didn’t want to stop , I have great cards and my hand was too good!” My sweet dad I miss you.
Under this post on facebook the comments:
Andy Kudo: Awww. Mr. Yamadera. I remember him well. Mrs too.Your mother was always so happy and so funny. She was a thrill to be around.
Jocelyn: I love this picture of Dad. I believe he had that good poker hand in a film called “The Two Jakes”, which was a sequel to “Chinatown” with Jack Nicholson.
Nancy: But I also remember uncle Bill as one uncle who would always draw us out onto the dance floor at any big party. He would catch your eye and point his finger and motion out to dance!! Never said a word but he always got a dance partner!! Love uncle Bill!!
Me: Nancy, yes i think he needed a couple of drinks then all bets were off!
Karen: Nancy, he was the strong, silent type. This made me laugh as I could imagine him doing that!
I sent my daughter this:
"SURROUND YOURSELF
WITH PEOPLE WHO:
EMPOWER YOU
BELIEVE IN YOU
SUPPORT YOU
UPLIFT YOU
MOTIVATE YOU
APPRECIATE YOU"
She sent me this:
Well yes, but also look around at those disenfranchised communities that don’t have the resources to motivate or empower anyone as they struggle to make ends meet. Part of the reason so many elite liberals were blindsided by the election results is because they are themselves narcissistic isolationists, so we only have a leg up on Trump if we look carefully at his supporters and understand that the majority of them are just misguided and under-served by our current political system.
If we only cling to like-minded people we won’t ever have a chance at real dialogue and change so part of the hard work ahead is to be willing to get out of our comfort zones and resist the urge to block out the voices we don’t want to hear. ❤️🩹
November 6 the day after the elections. I drove to Newport Beach to visit Sherri and we soothed our souls with food and drink and jigsaw puzzling.
