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So I found out the topic for this issue was going to be "The Distinguished Gentleman." I thought to myself, “No essay this month—I don't know a distinguished gentleman!” Then I looked up the definitions. Distinguished means, among other things, marked by eminence, distinction, or excellence. And what defines a gentleman? A man who treats other people in a proper and polite way.
II thought of my grandfather who, after walking through Japan to reach a port, emigrated to America where he learned English and started a business. He raised a family and endured the indignity of the internment camps. He rebuilt his greenhouses at the age of 79 and was well-respected by his peers. Every evening he dressed up in a nice shirt and vest for dinner. He was a distinguished gentleman to me.
My father put aside his desire to be an engineer to run the family business and worked as a gardener to earn money for the nursery his father was rebuilding after the war. He raised four children after the early death of our mother and came home from the nursery in his grimy clothes to start cooking his spaghetti with Japanese noodles. He took me, his only daughter, to the local beauty college for a perm so I wouldn't look so bedraggled because he couldn't figure out what to do with my hair. He took me to the library faithfully every three weeks to pass on his love of reading, and once checked out a book of lyrics to learn all the verses to "You Are My Sunshine" which he sang over the laundry room sink every morning at 5:00 AM while brushing his dentures even though my bedroom was right there. “Dad! Please!” He was an awfully distinguished
ELEVA8UP / OCTOBER 2014
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