In Memoriam

Ten years ago the world became a darker place.

A young Japanese woman was murdered in Auckland, New Zealand by an unknown assailant.

She had been my student.

She went to New Zealand to study English and to work. She was a wonderful person. She could sing Enka extremely well, was madly in love with Jon Bon Jovi and loved listening to gospel music. She was funny and kind and lived life with great gusto.

She sent me a letter from New Zealand after she had been there for a month or two. She thanked me for teaching her, and told me about her life in Christchurch. She loved her life in New Zealand.

September 11, 1998 was the last day that she was seen alive.

When I went to visit her parents to pay my respects they showed me a picture of her that I keep in my mind. She was on a rock, in front of a lake. Her arms were upstretched and on her face was an exuberant look of joy. She looked like a mischievous angel. That is the way that I want to remember her.