senior band members at "band graduation" (aka "Band-o-Rama" concert) on March 11. In between, I was checking Facebook updates on my Blackberry and noticed that a former co-worker Ritsuko who was visiting her mother in Japan posted about a huge earthquake. Then my cousin Derek posted that his prayers go out to the people in Japan. (Facebook has its usages in passing along important news.) We turned on CNN and watched the tsunami roll over the land, destroying everything in its path. It was horrifying to see the Sendai Airport, where some of our band group landed in June, under water. Then we heard that Hawaii was on a tsunami watch, then warning, with the tsunami predicted to hit around 3 am. I remembered that I had less than a quarter tank of gas so I went out to fill up and there was already a long line. It took about an hour to reach the Chevron pump because they were so unorganized. We were fortunate that we didn't have to evacuate. We just kept watching the same footage on TV from Japan, just shocked and saddened at the devastation. I wound up staying up most of the night, watching whatever local coverage there was on our tsunami situation. Luckily Hawaii was mostly safe, with some damage on the Big Island and Oahu. Japan was not so lucky. But the people there are so admirable, pulling together to help each other, not complaining, just moving forward to put their country back together. In Hawaii we have such a strong connection to Japan, not just because many of us have family that came from Japan. Ganbatte!
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