gotohealth's Blog

Listening to Morgan Housel who wrote THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MONEY. He says too many of us are wired for “status” and not “happiness” and basically programed for attracting a spouse. Morgan says, “Contentment is not happiness.”  And goes on to say, "Responsibility and tolerance for pain is key for getting ahead financially.” 

 

In my life, I married Sam, and he was a total example of Morgan’s wisdom. Sam particularly demonstrated this in excelling in football when he was awarded a Rotary commendation by the Ontario, Oregon, high school football team. Sam played for Weiser, Idaho, high school as a sophomore 1949. His coach and lifelong favorite mentor, took him to the Rotary Club meeting in Ontario to receive the award of:  Being named the most formidable defensive opponent in the high school football league that year.

 

At Nampa, ID, high school, Sam's trophy for a record in high hurdles was in their trophy case for several years after he graduated.

 

In 58 years at his Seattle Medical Dental practice as a Dental Technician, Sam never missed a day of work. Also, we found a grade school report card where the teacher commends his for never missing a day of school.

 

Sam often repeated his goal to at least live longer than his dad, who died in 1983 at the age of 83. Sam was diagnosed before age 40 with issues of Diabetes like his dad. He said, “I married you because you are a nurse and can take care of yourself.” In 1969, when he was installing an air-condition outlet in his 423 Medical Dental Building office he said, “I felt so bad, I felt like jumping out the window.” 

 

Researching and finding good nutrition was the answer, Sam talked me into developing our nutrition business GOTO-HEALTH in 1977. Therefore, Sam lived to age 85, gardening until the last month of 2017. He was on no prescribed medication until the last month of his life. He lived and worked until the end like he planned.

 

I am benefitting from Sam’s wisdom, life values and financial security. Finally, by the year 2000 (forty years of marriage), we were able to pay all our bills at the end of each month and start saving for medical bills for our old age. This is the heritage we want to pass on!

Lilly is now 90-yrs-old and lives in the family home again, on Bainbridge Island, where her grandfather created his 20-acres farm and was raising strawberries before WWII. Lilly says, "Felix Narte was his main farm hand. Grandpa and Grandma went back to Japan and left the farm to my father, Frank Kitamoto and my mother, Setsuko Nishinaka Kitamoto."  

 

Lilly further explains, “Felix used to baby-sit us and was part of our family. Because Felix took care of the farm and helped us so much, my father gave him an acre, when we got back home after our incarceration. He went back to the Philippines to marry and built his house next door. Now, Felix Jr. lives next door and is still part of our family. 

 

On March 30th 1942, we were the first group, with as little as 1/16 Japanese heritage, incarcerated when President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. I was 7-yrs-old, my sister Frances was 5-yrs-old, my brother Frank Jr was 2-yrs-old and Jane was a baby. We were taken directly to Manzanar in California. but later we were able to move to Minidoka in Idaho where our friends from Seattle were incarcerated. Felix drove all the way from Bainbridge Island to Camp Minidoka with our electric washing machine because he knew my mother needed it for washing diapers.”

 

Lilly also explained how her father was working for FRIEDLANDER JEWERY STORE in Seattle, “Mr Friedland was the one who called us to tell us the Government officials had taken our father straight to prison, without his even being able to come home, when WWII started. Later, Mr Friedlander got permission for my Dad to go to Chicago and learn watch repair. 

 

After the war. Mr Friedlander loaned my father money to start his own jewelry store business in the Bush Hotel on Jackson Street in Seattle. Also, the owner of the Bush Hotel paid for the big locked vault for storage of the valuables. Us kids once complained that we never went on vacations. My father explained, ‘As long as I owe Mr. Friedlander money, we can’t do such a thing until I pay him back.’”