Ruby, what a perfect name for our dear friend with such a vibrant personality!
What is the spiritual meaning of this precious gemstone, a ruby? It is a source of divine creativity, a symbol of good fortune, pure love, and fierce loyalty. A ruby is one of the most powerful jewels and brings energy into our lives.
I first met Ruby four decades ago at a cooking class. We were both very interested in our respective last names. It would be years later when we began to bond over our love and interest in Japanese culture, language, food, and movies. The four of us had the best times at the original Bamboo Garden and other Asian restaurants. With Ruby every occasion was like an instant party full of fun, uproarious laughter, teasing, and debates.
In 2004 Ruby and Bob attended the International Rotary Conference in Osaka, Japan. They stayed on after the conference and asked Tsune to be their interpreter and tour guide. It was a life changing trip for the three of them.
Ruby and Bob had many adventures. Ruby was a news junkie watching the PBS news on Delta Public Television. She decided that they were going to be present at the epoch inauguration of President Barak Obama.
Then there was the weekend trip to NYC to see the off-Broadway show, "Allegiance" starring George Takei. Of course, they went back stage to compare notes with him after the performance. All three of them had been interned in Japanese-American camps during World War II as children. I am sure when George Takei returned home, he informed all his friends in California. "Guess who I met from Midland, Michigan, Ruby and Bob Iwamasa!"
I am eternally grateful to Ruby for coming to Jefferson Middle School to talk to HJ Smith's and my eighth grade students for an annual event called Diversity Day. She shared her personal experiences as a child with her family of internment at Poston, one of the camps. Ruby brought the very trunk her parents had taken to camp to the classroom. She took out actual items from this trunk. There was the wall hanging of a carved American eagle draped by the US flag. The patriotic carving was made by Bob's mother while interned in camp. The students immediately understood the irony and injustice of that situation. When Ruby took out a reddish, velveteen jacket with a Peter Pan collar, everyone knew this had been her jacket. She opened it up and we read her name sewed inside, Ruby Teruko Shiotani. She was able to share with the students and the volunteer parents that the camps were an aberration of American ideals and should never happen again.
Ruby was a precious gem! She was a dear friend, woman of valor, and a social justice warrior.
Ruby by Tsune Kawakita
I feel that I became very close to Ruby and Bob in 2004. Before that, neither had visited Japan despite their Japanese sounding family names. The primary purpose of their first visit to Japan was for Ruby to represent her Rotary district at the Rotary International Convention in Osaka, Japan. Both Ruby and Bob wanted to take advantage of being there to find their roots. That is how I got involved. I suppose they trusted me for English-Japanese interpretation. Ruby, after finishing her official duties at the Rotary Convention, seemed to fully enjoy the second half of her visit to the western part of Japan where both Ruby and Bob's Japanese relatives lived. Since I always acted as an interface between them and their Japanese relatives, I became like their family member. In return, I had them become part of the Kawakita family by hosting them at my parents' home in Tokyo.
We all miss beautiful Ruby! Our deepest condolences to the Iwamasa families.