Michi Yasui Ando

Dear Mom, It has been a busy year. You are always in the midst of my thoughts. My happiest days are the ones that I spend with little Karen Michi. She is a little fire cracker, and I like to tell her about her middle name. She loves books and music, like you, and she's smart too. Tonight especially, I miss you.

I miss you, mom.

Today, on your birthday I received a notice for "The Race for the Cure". I know you are still with us every day - so, of course I'll sign us up again!

Love, Suzy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA! This is the first time I've logged onto your guestbook. Not because I don't think about you every day, but because, as you so aptly noted one evening, I did not inherit the Ando/Yasui ability to stare sadness and grief right in the face and hold myself together. Today was no different. As I read the entries of friends and family members, I became Niagra Falls all over again. Justin would have been very disappointed. He's always telling me "lawyers don't cry." I...

Often in my adult life I have thought of Michi as a person who lived in the present moment. There was this wonderful aliveness to being around her. She put into action her great enthusiasm for life. To embody this quality, given the times she grew up in, we know she lived from a place of courage. In remembering her, I see how she had that unusual combination of great heart and mind. I am told this is the place where courage is born. This sort of courage was seen in how she lived moment...

To the most beautiful woman in the world.

There are books written about my grandmother. I've read pieces of them. When I was twelve. So all I really know about her is through the eyes of a child who thought her the most beautiful woman in the world.
She broke the rules - I remember reading - when it was against the law to be out past 8 o'clock. I have a picture of her in my mind, a young girl with jet black hair in the silken curls of her generation's style. Standing on a...

Dear Uncle Toshio:
Janine and I wish to express our condolences on the passing of Aunt Michi. She was always so nice to me. I remember when a friend and I were driving from Oregon to Rockville she let us stay in your home and cooked us a wonderful breakfast. With our son Dante beginning grade school, I have come to realize how important good teachers are. I know that Aunt Michi was a great teacher and enabled so many children to go on to lead productive lives. Nothing could be a better...

Uncle Toshio and the Andos. Aunt Michi was such an inspiration for our whole family. I'll never forget watching the coverage of her college graduation ceremonies 50 years after the actual event. I was so proud to be related to her. My sister Robin gained such a loving, warm family when she moved to Denver because Aunt Michi and the Andos welcomed her and provided such a wonderful extended family. And although I couldn't make the Yasui family reunion, I was amazed and inspired by the videos I...

My Mom grew up with your love and in turn passed it to me. I am passing it on to my children now. They will know all your wonderful stories Aunt Michi. Grandma will tell them about your travel adventures. Your love will always live on. We'll miss you, Love Amy