'Til the Storm Passes By
Being an Arashian, I am one of millions who woke up Sunday morning and saw the news first thing on my facebook page from my news feed. I mean, the very first thing like it was a state of emergency thing. Since everyone else has shared their thoughts and emotions about the news, I will try not to sound repetitive, but these are my opinions and my journal, so I will do my best.
Also, on the side of that, my family is going through some heartache and hard moments of our own that have nothing to do with my favorite Japanese band. My family has suffered a huge loss that we may not recover from in a very long time, or ever. On the 16th, my father passed away suddenly. He had a stroke. The news was very hard and shocking to take for me and my family, as well as his friends and the people who knew him. You can read the rest of my thoughts in the cut down below if you're ready to read a novel.
First, I'll talk about my thoughts about Arashi. Honestly, my feelings when I first read the post on the facebook page I liked, I felt joy and relief for the band. I truly did. Over time, I've grown to care for the guys and their health. I was afraid that they would burn out or get really sick from being busy so much, or some other tragedy. Then, after reading other people's posts about their feelings and finally seeing their announcement video, I started to feel sad. I watched their faces as they talked and I could see that Sho and Ohno cried a little before filming. It was hard to watch. Once the news settled in for a couple of days, and I finally got to watch the press conference (which was probably the best press conference I've seen in a while), I am at peace again. So I plan to really cherish these next couple of years until their hiatus. From now on, I wish nothing but the best for them. I mean, I've done that before.
So, to avoid being too repetitive by this point EVERYONE has shared their thoughts and feelings, I'm going to be short, sweet and to the point. I am glad Arashi is taking this break. I feel like it is much needed for them. I wish them nothing but the best and I will continue to support them. I will also just lower my head and plunge on forward and not regret anything. It's how they would want me do to it, as their fan.
This part is harder for me to write. To back track, my dad passed away suddenly on the 16th. The night before, I get a text from a number I didn't recognize saying that dad wasn't doing so well and that he was being taken to the hospital for having a stroke. Turns out it was my brother that texted me but I didn't have his number in my contacts since I wiped my phone clean and my contacts didn't update. So, I didn't respond thinking it was a wrong number. But something was still pulling at me, so I called my mom and asked and she confirmed it for me. Dad was indeed being rushed to the hospital. The paramedics were going to take him to the hospital in town, but they turned him away because they didn't have the right equipment for him, so they transferred him to a bigger hospital in a bigger city. There, the doctors did a CT and they found no brain activity. From then, my dad was only breathing by the help of machines and it wasn’t long before he was declared brain dead. His time of death was 9:15pm on January 16th. My dad was able to donate his organs through Gift of Life. I’m really happy that he was able to give to those who are in need because he has been in the same boat before.
My dad was the type of person who impacted anyone he interacted with. Most of it was positive, but other times he would make the person with him nervous. He kind of asked personal questions and he only called that “witnessing”. And we would say, “But dad, sometimes people don’t WANT to tell strangers that stuff!”. It got embarrassing at times, but it wasn’t horrible.
A lot of people told me they were sorry about my dad, and I would tell them thank you, but honestly not know how to respond to that. Because all in all, I’m not sorry my dad is no longer living. My dad had type one diabetes and has had it since he was 14 years old. I’ve known my dad my whole life with this disease and it was not always a pretty. I hate diabetes. It handicapped my dad so much. I hated to see him suffer and not know how to help him. Other than give him juice or a pb and j sandwich to boost his sugar levels. There were times he was rushed to the hospital because his sugar level had dropped so much. It was scary to see him in those situations. Several times I had thought that my dad would not ever come back home again after those trips. So to say that I am not sorry that my dad has passed away, I’m actually relieved and at peace. He does not have diabetes anymore! He has a brand new body and is probably running around up in heaven and playing football up there.
One of the major highlights from my dad’s funeral was that someone played the song from scene from Star Wars when Luke and Han are getting their medals while we walked behind the coffin to the hearse. It wasn’t planned, but it did keep the mood up and my dad would have loved that since he loved Star Wars.
2019 has been very eventful for me already, and January is nearly over with. What will happen during the next 10 months? Unlike last January, this one has really crawled along for me.
If you're waiting for some drama reviews I do have two in mind that I will write out for my next day off on Friday. Keep your eyes pealed for that!
Also, on the side of that, my family is going through some heartache and hard moments of our own that have nothing to do with my favorite Japanese band. My family has suffered a huge loss that we may not recover from in a very long time, or ever. On the 16th, my father passed away suddenly. He had a stroke. The news was very hard and shocking to take for me and my family, as well as his friends and the people who knew him. You can read the rest of my thoughts in the cut down below if you're ready to read a novel.
First, I'll talk about my thoughts about Arashi. Honestly, my feelings when I first read the post on the facebook page I liked, I felt joy and relief for the band. I truly did. Over time, I've grown to care for the guys and their health. I was afraid that they would burn out or get really sick from being busy so much, or some other tragedy. Then, after reading other people's posts about their feelings and finally seeing their announcement video, I started to feel sad. I watched their faces as they talked and I could see that Sho and Ohno cried a little before filming. It was hard to watch. Once the news settled in for a couple of days, and I finally got to watch the press conference (which was probably the best press conference I've seen in a while), I am at peace again. So I plan to really cherish these next couple of years until their hiatus. From now on, I wish nothing but the best for them. I mean, I've done that before.
So, to avoid being too repetitive by this point EVERYONE has shared their thoughts and feelings, I'm going to be short, sweet and to the point. I am glad Arashi is taking this break. I feel like it is much needed for them. I wish them nothing but the best and I will continue to support them. I will also just lower my head and plunge on forward and not regret anything. It's how they would want me do to it, as their fan.
This part is harder for me to write. To back track, my dad passed away suddenly on the 16th. The night before, I get a text from a number I didn't recognize saying that dad wasn't doing so well and that he was being taken to the hospital for having a stroke. Turns out it was my brother that texted me but I didn't have his number in my contacts since I wiped my phone clean and my contacts didn't update. So, I didn't respond thinking it was a wrong number. But something was still pulling at me, so I called my mom and asked and she confirmed it for me. Dad was indeed being rushed to the hospital. The paramedics were going to take him to the hospital in town, but they turned him away because they didn't have the right equipment for him, so they transferred him to a bigger hospital in a bigger city. There, the doctors did a CT and they found no brain activity. From then, my dad was only breathing by the help of machines and it wasn’t long before he was declared brain dead. His time of death was 9:15pm on January 16th. My dad was able to donate his organs through Gift of Life. I’m really happy that he was able to give to those who are in need because he has been in the same boat before.
My dad was the type of person who impacted anyone he interacted with. Most of it was positive, but other times he would make the person with him nervous. He kind of asked personal questions and he only called that “witnessing”. And we would say, “But dad, sometimes people don’t WANT to tell strangers that stuff!”. It got embarrassing at times, but it wasn’t horrible.
A lot of people told me they were sorry about my dad, and I would tell them thank you, but honestly not know how to respond to that. Because all in all, I’m not sorry my dad is no longer living. My dad had type one diabetes and has had it since he was 14 years old. I’ve known my dad my whole life with this disease and it was not always a pretty. I hate diabetes. It handicapped my dad so much. I hated to see him suffer and not know how to help him. Other than give him juice or a pb and j sandwich to boost his sugar levels. There were times he was rushed to the hospital because his sugar level had dropped so much. It was scary to see him in those situations. Several times I had thought that my dad would not ever come back home again after those trips. So to say that I am not sorry that my dad has passed away, I’m actually relieved and at peace. He does not have diabetes anymore! He has a brand new body and is probably running around up in heaven and playing football up there.
One of the major highlights from my dad’s funeral was that someone played the song from scene from Star Wars when Luke and Han are getting their medals while we walked behind the coffin to the hearse. It wasn’t planned, but it did keep the mood up and my dad would have loved that since he loved Star Wars.
2019 has been very eventful for me already, and January is nearly over with. What will happen during the next 10 months? Unlike last January, this one has really crawled along for me.
If you're waiting for some drama reviews I do have two in mind that I will write out for my next day off on Friday. Keep your eyes pealed for that!