What I remember first, as a baby, are the red tulips, so beautiful that I wanted to be like them.
Then I remember a tame snake that used to eat strawberries in the garden with me.
I remember my grandmother and father teaching me and my sisters to respect the insects, the plants, the animals and the trees, the cold northern lakes, the sacred places, the swamps and the mountains, and the people who fought for them long ago and still do.
There are many moments over many years that became a long moment of feeling the world, like an hour during a child's summer day.
I liked school, especially music, history, reading, physical sciences, art. I was very happy when my parents enrolled me in a museum-school. Young professors from many universities went there to teach classes. They taught us a lot about everything from medieval manuscripts to John Cage! I loved my Saturdays at the museum! We didn't have much money, my family, but we had nature and the arts. We had beauty!
I worked, studied and saved for art school. When I was accepted, I was very happy! During art school, I received a small grant that helped me spend a summer traveling mostly around Ireland, both in the West (Gaelic areas) and in the North. That was the beginning of my passion for travel.
I met my husband, a writer and teacher, after art school when I moved to San Francisco. We lived in and traveled to many places. We never had children. We stayed together until he died, peacefully, at home. He was the love of my life.
During Covid, I made the decision to leave Japan, where I was teaching, and return to the US.
30 members of my extended family became ill. My favorite brother-in-law died. My sister's pain is still great.
So much death made me realize that I needed to continue living. I had never been to Portugal before, but I sold everything and came here.
It hasn't been easy, but I'm glad to be here.
