can you believe it took over a year for a store to open up near the temporary housing? up until now, people had to drive so far to get simple things like eggs and vegetables. and the grandma’s and grandpa’s who don’t have cars or family probably had a hard time making ends meet. one lady stepped forward, and with the help of others, made it happen. it took motivation and guts to pull off a big project like this, and i’m still pretty emotional when i think about the hardships Naomi-san went through. i don’t like to bring up the sad things, but the fact that her husband is still missing still breaks my heart. but where ever he is, i’m sure he’s proud of his amazing wife. all these people in this little store needed something that day, and they all left with fresh and healthy products for a great dinner that night. this is another example of a person making the difference. i’m sure each and every person standing in line that day didn’t mind the wait. i want to thank each and every one of you who donated money or supplies to make this happen. i will never forget!

once a year, surfers from all over Ishinomaki get together for dinner and drinks. Azumi-san invited our team and right when i walked into the room, i was so happy to see so many smiling faces. Azumi-san told me right after the tsunami that i will never forget. he said “we are surfers, we are strong, and we will get through this!” one year ago, nobody was smiling, but this night the only thing i remember was everybody’s white teeth. smiles everywhere!
Click here for Azumi-san’s blog

we really wanted to do a festival in kobochihama for M6. but after matsu got the update, there was absolutely no time for fun or celebration. the people in kobochihama were moving full speed ahead working from dawn to dusk every single day. lifting up 20-30 kilos of wakame all day is hard work. while i was working, i kept looking up at our team thinking to myself “these are a bunch of hard workers. we can do anything. we can do ANYTHING!” hard work is sweating in the cold, hard work is aching backs, hard work is no breaks, and hard work is HARD WORK! i learned something that day. i learned that no matter what you do in life, give it 110% use all your energy, use all your effort, and use all you power! let it out! then go home feeling like you did something. it’s a feeling of satisfaction. it’s a feeling i want to feel everyday of my life. i thought i had a tough job, but now i know that my job is too easy. and no, i will never complain about it again.
i was going to write about our M6 team but this is getting too long. i will save it for tonight. have a wonderful day and what ever you are doing now, give it your all!
thank you again from the bottom of my heart!

http://dakineisawjsc.com/live/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEyFB2wJXQQ
this man lives the simple life. his own island, his own life! awesome.