Hasagawa-san's plan

On Saturday, there will be no class at the Ohtomi community center. Instead, the class and I will be attending the funeral services for one of it's members, Yuzo Hasagawa. (Seen here in the pink sweater and blue bow tie. The pic is from Halloween and it's only one I have of him unfortunately). He was a smart man with a rich knowledge of history. His English level was quite high, enough to have been an English professor at the University level at one time.

Hasagawa-san had mentioned a few times that his health was not good. It was only a few weeks ago that I learned how serious his situation was. By then he was not well enough to go to class. I would not have the chance to speak with him again. However, the thing about Hawagawa-san is this. He began attending the ohtomi group about the time I started teaching it. And with almost no exceptions, he attended every class until he could not attend class any longer.

I'm pretty sure that if I ever was to learn that the end of me was nigh, my plan for my final weeks on earth would involve a lot of .... well something.

Hasagawa-san's plan was to work on his English. It may be the greatest compliment I could pay to him, or anyone, that he wanted to keep bettering himself, keep learning until the very end. Maybe he just understood the difference between what you can take with you and what you can't. To me, this is an example of the finest human character.