Shelbella: Inspiration: Life

Hello everyone! This past weekend was a bit of craziness for me and it was hard for me to update the blog, but no worries, I am back! It's not a fashion post nor a insta-fashion post but a Inspiration post. This might be my favorite Inspiration post I'll do in a while. The last one was a great learning experience for me but this one is close to my heart. I got the chance to interview a very important human being in my life, my grandmother. I spent most of my childhood at her house, playing, eating, laughing, and making memories as cheesy as that sounds. I've learned so much from my grandmother, I cherish her and love her with all my heart. My fondest memories from my childhood is playing in her garden with my brother. I remember slipping on my rain boots during rainy days and plunging into gigantic puddles. On summer days, I remember playing with bugs and eating dirt with my brother and laughing. My fondest memories of my grandmother's garden was always shared with laughter. I loved that garden so much but I know my grandma has a strong bond with it. It's a part of her. She cares for it everyday. It's what brings joy to her life and smiles on her face. I love hearing her talk about it. My grandmother believed in going 'green' before it was even called 'going green'. She learned to DIY before my mom could walk. She lives and breathes a healthy lifestyle but doesn't make it a statement in her life, instead, it's a lifestyle. She's the one who taught me about biodegradable food, recycling, gardening and living a fresher and healthier life. This interview was a bit hilarious, to say the least. The language barrier was the hardest part. I'm not fluent in Japanese at all. AT ALL. I understand broken Japanese pretty well but nowhere near fluent, so I had my mother there to help me translate for her. We spent close to an hour trying to explain what 'inspiration' meant. We tried our best to give the best interview.

A lot of the questions in this interview dealt with her way of life regarding gardening and her journey to America. She also told me about my grandfather, whom I've never met. So please, sit back and enjoy.

First things first, I wanted to know when she started growing and planting her own garden. She told me she started when she first got to America in the 1960's. She moved in the house with my mom and my grandfather in 1964. She said the house was so barren and empty. As a stay at home mom, she had the time to make this barren backyard into a plentiful garden.

She inspires me in my every day life, I wanted to know what inspired her. She simply said her family. She says that family is very important to her, she leans on my mom and all of us for everything. She wouldn't know where she would be without her family.

She expressed me to how important it was to her that she grew her own veggies and did a lot of her own gardening, but I wanted to know what she got out of it all. Why was it important? Was it an easier way of life? She expressed to me the effects of WWII and rationing of food had a big influence on her lifestyle. She says it's just who she is. She was never a wasteful person and she never liked to throw anything away because she finds a purpose for everything. At times, she finds herself wondering if she could trust what they sell at markets, with her veggies and plants she knows they are all natural.

My entire family knows that she has this obsession with frogs. Animated frogs, real frogs, frog prints, frogs. Her bathroom is covered with frog printed everything. I asked why. She laughed out loud and said because they're so cute!

My grandma and mom came over to America from Japan in the 1960's. They adapted to the 'American' lifestyle pretty quickly with the help of my grandpa. He was fluent in both Japanese and English so my grandma never had to stress about the language barrier.

Here's where the interview got a little emotional for me. I've heard my mom talk about my grandpa countless times, I grew up with my mom's stories but I've never heard my grandma's. I wanted to know who my grandpa was in her eyes because for so long, I knew who he was in my mom's eyes. She started by saying that they were married for 40 years. In those 40 years, there were no arguments or fights. They looked after one another. If there were things my grandpa couldn't do, my grandma would help and vice versa. He was a very hard worker. He worked all day and would go home to my grandma and relax in his rocking chair (which she still has) while my grandma would make dinner and take care of him. She did admit that she regrets never learning how to drive. She attempted it once and almost crashed the car. She remembers my grandpa being more concerned about the car getting damaged than her.

I asked her what he would've thought of me now. She let out a 'kawaiiiiiiii', which means cute in Japanese. I was born on September 15, 1990. My grandpa was put in the hospital on August 31st, 1990. He died on October 10th, 1990. He only knew me through a baby picture my mom gave him in the hospital. My grandma would take the bus everyday, to visit my grandpa and he would ask about me everyday. My mom tells me that my picture was the last thing he was about to process before he became incoherent. My grandma said he would've spoiled me rotten and I would've been his pride and joy.