Exit stage left

Alright alright I'm back, Jesus. Stop cryin'

So yeah lol cats are approved by this girl, in all their cute glory. But seriously 'Kan iz haz cheezburger nao?' it gets a bit old but they are TOO cute. But cute only last so long and apparently that length is 400 freaking pages.

So in other news Voorhees had her birthday on the weekend and got blitzed drunk and had a band that is accurately named 'METAL FORCE' singer her happy birthday in that bad at closing time kind of way, and then as we made our grand and exuberant exit the whole drunken 3 am crowd wanted in on the music and we got yet another rendition of the most off key, slurred, screamy/screechy happy birthday to have ever blessed my ears. It was magnificent. She was so drunk and so embarrassed that she bowed and couldn't get back up because her face was burning red. What an excellent birthday!

That was my Saturday, Sunday was not so good. My Aikido Sensei, Inaba Sensei passed away and Sunday was his funeral. I had never met Inaba Sensei, he was ill long before I arrived to Cow Town, but what happened was remarkable. I have only been going to Aikido for about 3 or 4 weeks now and I love it, I will be doing Aikido for the rest of my life, I just get it, I'm not good at it yet but I get it. Inaba Sensei built the dojo that I go to, his establishment enabled me to have a passion, a hobby, something to give myself to, so I felt not only obliged to go to his funeral, but honoured to witness the passing of humanities titans, one of its great people. A person that was truly loved and will always be missed. The senior students who are there said a few times that people should arrive early so get parking and seat so I did just that and showed up a half hour early and took my seat. In time the family came in and they wheeled the casket in and the funeral began. I'm not Christian, I don’t particularly like Christianity but I can understand why some people do, it’s just not my bag, so when the preacher went off for 45 minutes and sang songs praising god and what not I have to admit that my hang over was blatantly apparent on my face, but through the need to dry heave I stayed and sat and listened, cause he deserved it, he, though we never met, deserved more respect from me then I was capable of giving. Then one of his patients and best friends spoke, he spoke of how Inabas daily routine held so much care, loving and healing that it fixed him and made him whole again, about the friendship they shared and the memories they made. He spoke of Inaba Sensei’s family and how they need not be alone. Then one of our senior students spoke of his time with Inaba Sensei, the comrodore, the compassion, the laughing, the learning. His family spoke and thanked us for coming and that he would miss his father very much. Inaba Sensei's Sensei, one of the men who taught him Aikido, flew in from Japan the night before just to be there, was there and spoke. It was amazing, but it wasn’t the most stunning part.

The auditorium that the funeral was held in could hold maybe as many as 100 people, 150 if some stood. There were over 400 people that came to this mans funeral. I somehow got a seat because I was early.They let the people standing say good bye first, understandably and I sat for a good half hour waiting, as people walked past my pew, all of them mournful and sad, some openly crying others stoned face not knowing how to deal with the loss. There were some that just walked past the casket without saying good bye, face buried in their tissues. It was incredible to see. I have never known a man or woman to be so missed and by proxy so loved as Inaba Sensei. I could feel the sorrow in the air, it was think and tangible, touchable and you could grab it with your hands and put it in your pocket so that you could look back on it later and think holy fuck, I hope I matter as much as that man did.

So I may not have known Inaba Sensei personally, but I feel as though I know him, and I am a prouder, better human being for being part of his Dojo, for being part of his legacy.

There's more to this, but I'll tell you later

-Tangent

Comments

[Chebrutta]

I am sad now. I didn't know him either. But I'm not a good person like you, so I'm going to eat a cookie to make myself feel better.