12/17/2025
Sensei Blog: I had a Great Aunt her name was Betty. Aunt Betty grew up during the Great Depression, a child of very young immigrant parents. My Great Grandparents ended up having 8 children in the family, and life was anything but easy. They were poor, lost everything they owned during the depression and moved multiple times around the country searching for a more stable life. They landed here in the Yakima Valley, in the Sunnyside area. My Great Aunt worked less than glamorous jobs during her life. She worked at the Sunnyside cleaners, a very hot steamy job. She worked in warehouses, etc. She was a very hard worker, and her husband Marvin, a kind and very quiet man dropped of a heart attack in his 50's one morning as he walked out the back door. Marvin was the love of Aunt Betty's life. They were never able to have children, and I remember the blessings of Aunt Betty spending lots of time with our family during the years that followed his death. She thought our little family my mom, dad, and sister and me were blessing her. In reality she was blessing us. Aunt Betty was a giver. A lady who laughed easily, she had a huge sense of humor. She laughed at almost everything in life. Almost. She had deep losses she did not talk about. What I remember most about her is that she had very little, and yet always gave my sister and I silver dollars at Christmas. She was a constant in my early youth, that I never thought that much about, other than we loved her. Her most definitive character trait was she was the most positive person. Everything she said was "up". She always said she loved her jobs. She went on the best trips. She had the best friends. She found the best deals. She had the BEST holidays. She looked for the positive always. Even when in reality I am very aware her life was always hard.
One of my Sensei's often told me "Look for the positive, do not live in the negative. He always looked for what was right, not what was wrong. The negative just slid off of him. It is how he chose to live. He was often surrounded by people who liked to gossip about others. I heard him once say, "If you are going to tell me something good, I will listen, if you are going to tell me bad things about someone, I don't want to hear it." :)
My mother who is one of the wisest most common-sense persons I have ever known stated to me early on in life the following: "If you are at the end of the line in life you will get criticism from the group. If you are at the front of the line, you will also get criticism. There will always be people who pick on those who struggle and always be jealous of those on top. The ones in the middle slide by with the least struggles of others talking about them in a negative way. Always be kind to those struggling, and don't be afraid to step out and do your best. Yes, you will get criticism. People will gossip about you. True friends will support you and be happy for you, unfaithful friends will be jealous. When you are on the bottom or the top, you will find out who your true friends are! Step out on faith, face your enemies and do good anyways. BE BRAVE! Let it slide off. The individuals weak in character will always try to shut down those trying their best to do great things. Choose to seek the positive. Let the negative go and slide off. Do not allow others to pull you down and live at their level. Have the courage to do GREAT THINGS ANYWAYS! Seek the positive, look for the positive, live in the positive. Be so strong that nothing destroys your peace. Try your best to let the negative GO! Do GOD ANYWAY!!! This is the karate WAY! 😍⛩🤩 Respect!---Sensei
