On Sept. 24, 2023 my auntie Mickey Yamadera turned 102. I posted on facebook about this landmark birthday. The post is below. I received word from my cousin Karen on January 8th that my aunt had passed away that morning. Although she had been in declining health this past year her passing still came as surprise. In December of 2017 my siblings Randy, Jocelyn their spouses and I decided we needed to make the trip to Sacramento to see Auntie Mickey and our cousins. Although my aunt and I corresponded regularly we had not seen each other in awhile. I attach my blog post of this reunion and some pictures below of our correspondance. One is the xmas card she wrote a few weeks after our reunion. in 2017 and one in 2015 when she knew I was expecting my first grandchild and that my daughter Athena had gotton married. Growing up we would visit my auntie Mickey in the summer. Her husband George was my father's younger brother. They had two children Karen and Richard about the ages of myself and my brother and so we have fond memories of the family gatherings, picnics and vacation trips fishing. My aunt was a remarkably strong woman. Last year her family published her autobiography. Something auntie Mickey had been working on in her later years. I received my copy of her book "Quest for Normalcy" last year and as I read it I was really astounded at the hardships she endured as a child and young adult. Astounded because her young life was so hard yet I never would have guessed as she was the most happy, positive person who never let on what she had endured in her early life. I'm glad she was able to share her life with us. It made me appreciate even more her strength and her will to overcome the many challenges she had endured. She was a wonderful mother,grandmother and great grandmother to her family. She was a devoted wife and someone adored and respected by the Japanese community in Sacramento. Even into her 90's she was serving her community. When she told me once I have to go now for meals on wheels. I said mistakenly "Are they coming to deliver food to you?" she chuckled, "No dear, I am making food for the elderly to be delivered by Meals on Wheels." She was in her 90's at the time. RIP Auntie Mickey. You are so loved and missed.
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