Many seniors, as they grow older, feel more lonely. Socializing, making new friends, and strengthening old friendships can be especially difficult.
Edlyn Yoshida, a senior who is a recent heart recipient, was more quiet about sharing her life story when she first sat down with volunteer Kari . However, using the prompts in the book, Kari was able to get Edlyn to warm up.
“Edlyn began opening up more and more to each question and the flood gates opened!” By the time they finished the book, hours and hours had flown by, and Kari and Edlyn had deeply strengthened their friendship and bond – something both of them did not expect. When questioned, Kari wrote that although she already knew Edlyn prior to “talking story,” the “book gave me the opportunity to learn so much more about Edlyn’s life.”
One aspect of our Let’s Talk Story book is that it allows volunteers to learn about their own ancestry. By filling out questions about family history, volunteers often discover intriguing information about generations before them.
One volunteer, Levi , recently interviewed his grandma and cancer survivor, Janet Morita.
“I enjoyed learning more about my grandma’s life. She faced a lot more discrimination than I have in my life so far because she lived through the war and internment camp,” he wrote after completing the book. Overall, the book had helped him “connect and document his family history.”
Ben’s Favorite Japanese Word Was an Important Reminder for Us All
Our second Let’s Talk Story Session with Ben was another inspiring experience. Last week, Ben shared with us his favorite Japanese word. I won’t spoil it – please watch the video to find out what it is.
Meeting Nisei World War II Veteran Ben Suechika — the artist and illustrator of our Let’s Talk Story book!
Today we visited Nisei World War II veteran Ben Suechika (age 103) at his senior home in Torrance, California. We wanted to express our gratitude for allowing us to use his paintings as the cover art and illustrations throughout our Let’s Talk Story book. While we were there, we were inspired by his story of living through the Gila River internment camp, and his experience serving in the Military Intelligence Service and being stationed in South Korea.
At the beginning of our session, Mr. Suechika couldn’t remember that he had painted the artwork in the book, or even that he had once enjoyed painting and art at all. However, despite some frustrations about forgetting such significant facts, Mr. Suechika maintained a constant positive attitude, creating jokes that made me genuinely laugh.
Talking story with Mr. Suechika and filling out the questions in the book together was more impactful than I ever imagined, and I felt extremely lucky to be able to do this with such an amazing man. As our session came to a close, I will never forget what happened at the end: Mr. Suechika noticed a painting hanging on the wall in his room and when told, “You painted that too, Ben,” he replied matter-of-factly, “I know.” After our conversation that afternoon, his memory of being a painter and enjoying art came back!
I hope that Let’s Talk Story Club allows my sister and I, and all of our volunteers, to create many more special moments like these.
Nisei World War II Veteran and Artist Ben Suechika (courtesy of Joanne Suechika)
Writing and publishing the book was a big project!
Over the course of a few months, with the help of designers, artists, and experts who kindly lent their time, our Let’s Talk Story book is finally finished. What started off as a Google Doc of possible questions turned into a beautiful life story book with breathtaking visuals and deliberate culturally-specific fill in the blanks. Creating the book certainly wasn’t a “簡単” (easy) process, but the end result reminded us that hard work truly pays off.
