Pre-covid My husband Mike and I rode the rails (Metro trains) a lot just for fun. We would take each line and explore what there was to see. We knew how to get places and when to transfer. It was always an adventure, with many mistakes but it gave us material for a lot of funny stories. We knew they had been planning expansion of the metro lines and the work was on going but did not know details. Yesterday we rode the metro for the first time in three years to Little Tokyo. We did not know that yesterday was the big celebration for the completion of the "Regional Connector Transit Project" and the opening of three new stations in Downtown LA." One of the stations was our destination stop: "Little Tokyo/Arts District. In years past to get to Little Tokyo from Long Beach we would have to make two transfers. The Blue line (now known as A line) starts in Long Beach and used to end in downtown L.A. With the completion of the connector project the final destination is Azusa with convenient stops to places like Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Pasadena. No transfers. It's amazing! So when we exited the Little Tokyo station we found a full fledged celebration with music and information booths about services and businesses in the area. If you want to do something different I fully support your taking the metro and suggest exploring a place dear to my heart "Little Tokyo".
Upon exiting we visited some booths giving information about Little Tokyo services, places of interest etc. It was there that I recognized someone I have long known about. His name is Mike Murase and he is legendary for his dedication and service to the Asian American community and for his decades of work for the people of Little Tokyo and beyond. I was so happy to be able to tell him in person how very grateful I have always been for his undying dedication to our community. In his very humble way he responded "You know I didn't do it alone." In talking we found many commonalities, UCLA, Basketball, people we both know,etc.
The Japanese American community is both large and small at the same time. Needless to say meeting Mike was extremely special for me. I have the feeling our paths have nearly intersected many times but finally yesterday our paths crossed. I'm so grateful.
No comments:
Post a Comment