50th Wedding Anniversary Family Dinner on 1993 in Renton.

We gathered at Tahoma National Cemetery on March 25th to placed Mary Alice with her Husband on his birthday to they will be 'together forever',

I met Mary Alice when I took my first writing class 28 years ago.  Four of us were writing in similar genres and we gravitated toward each other as the weeks went on. One night we decided to go to Ivars fast food after the class to grab a drink and discuss writing and our stories. This soon became a tradition, a highlight of my week, and when we had all taken this beginning writer's class enough times to realize we no longer needed it, we formed our first critique group. We were and are serious writers.  We began meeting every week for 11 years.  (I moved out of the area at that time, but the others continued to meet a couple of more years)  Those special memories will always remain with me. We forged friendships that have lasted to this day. My biggest regret for Mary Alice is that she never saw her stories published. She wanted to be a writer at a very young age, even took a coorespondence writing course in her twenties.  But she didn't pursue it actively until she was in her late 50s. It's a shame, because she was a natural born storyteller. Once she started writing, though, she had a lot of historical romance stories to tell. I urge her children to go forward with putting her books out into the world, to give that legacy to themselves, to her grandchildren, her friends, and others to read and enjoy. Especially now that e-books have made that something one can readily do.

Mary Alice was my friend in every sense of that word, that person you can call who is always glad to hear your voice, who commiserates, shares your highs and your lows, and always wishes the best for you.  She was unique and special.  I will miss her forever.

When I first dated Veronica, her mom (Mary Alice) thought I was Hawaiian because I was wearing an University of Hawaii T-Shirt.  Later, she thought I was Japanese when I gave her the book 'Shogun', when that mini-series was playing on TV.  Veronica told her 'LEE' is a Chinese last name.

When Veronica and I were getting ready to marry, she asked Veronica if I was marrying her because I wanted an American citizenship.  Veronica said that I am already an American citizen and I wanted to marry her because I love her.

That was more than 30 years ago and still brings a smile to my face when I think about 'being Hawaiian'.  She is the best mother-in-law I have and I her best son-in-law.  She welcomed me into her family with opened arms.  I will forever missed this lovely lady.

"Aloha nui loa"