Story of Mieko's life

Story of Meiko’s life

My mother, Janet Mieko Tateishi was born on October26,  1926 to Hana  Tateishi.  She was the third born of five children.   She became the sole provider for her mom and younger sisters after grandfather passed away at a young age of 56.  Mom said he went peacefully in his sleep.   I suppose the stress of having a child born with brittle bones and having to have numerous surgeries, took its toll on his life. 

Coming from Japan with nothing much to start a life in Hawaii was difficult enough but there was no choice for anyone back in the old days.  Hana’s older brother sold the family land and absconded with the money to Brazil to start his new life.  Hana’s family asked her cousin to please take Hana to Hawaii, as there was no future for her in Japan.   Hana ended up coming to Hawaii with her cousin and getting married.  I suppose they must have loved each other or accepted their fate.  In any event, they had 5 children that survived.   One male child died of beriberi because Hana did not have enough nourishing food to eat.  

Though Mieko was the 3^rd child born, she took it upon herself to provide for the family.  The eldest daughter, Matsuko was self-absorbed and selfish so she married and left her family to fend for themselves.

Mieko decided that she needed to do more weaving to support her family so besides picking coffee, she continued to weave lauhala into dinner mats, coasters and coin purses.

  Shigeto the only surviving male son had arthritis and was unable to do much.  He eventually enlisted in the Army and went off to fight the war.   Yasuko was an invalid from the start so she had to care for all her life.  Hana was always worried about Yasuko not only because she was an invalid but also a diabetic who never watched what she ate.   Any treats grandma would buy for us grandkids she would have to hide because Yasuko would sniff them out and eat them.  She was clever enough to phone the store and order items to be delivered and put on a tab for grandma to pay.

When grandma fell and broke her hip, it was the beginning of the end for her.  She never quite recovered completely but stayed in hospital from that time on until her death.  

Even Grandma’s house was bought and paid for by Meiko’s husband.   Mieko was so thrilled to have found a good hardworking and caring husband that also cared for his mother-in Law and sister- in law.  He was the only one besides Mieko who looked after grandma and Yasuko.   When grandma died, Yasuko had to be put into a home since everyone in our family was either out working or in school.   Mieko found a nice family in Honokaa who was willing to care for Yasuko, despite her mean-tempered ways and special dietary needs.  Mieko paid them regularly for Yasuko’s upkeep.  None of her other siblings even offered to help.  

Mieko learned how to drive a car and sought outside work as a housekeeper for a couple of rich white people.  They treated her very well because she was such a meticulous and diligent worker.     She had four daughters to put through college and dad’s income from the sales of mangoes, avocados and papayas was just not enough to pay for everything.  Luckily, most of her daughters either got grants, work/ study or part-time work to help pay for their own education so that helped a lot.

Eventually, as she and her husband grew older, Mieko realized that she needed medical coverage to pay for everyone’s doctor and dental bills so she got a job working the hospital as a housekeeper.  There she made lots of new friends, earned medical coverage for her family and received benefits that she didn’t have before.

When she eventually retired from working for the state, she was given a huge farewell party and was awarded Best worker of the year!

In 2004, when Takeishi, her husband was suffering from senile dementia, her eldest daughter returned from overseas with her son.   Takeishi eventually passed on in June of 2010 after years of being bed-ridden.   Mieko has not gotten over the grief of losing Takeishi and now at the age of 85 is slowly declining herself.   She no longer cooks or drives a car but depends on her daughter and grandson to help with everything.  

Metaphor of writing;

Lauhala of Life

Provider of Petunias

Gorillas of grief