I was born in Toronto, Canada in 1957 at St. Michael’s Hospital. I am Japanese Canadian. My parent’s names are Shigzu and Wally. They were born in Japan. When I was a baby, my mother held my hands to help me learn to walk. She changed my diapers, too. Sometimes I cried all night. My dad read books to me when I went to bed. I liked it when my parents helped me.
When I was a boy I liked the Japanese Festivals. I liked the dancing and the drums and the food. In the summer, I liked to swim in my pool with my sister Carol and my brother Ken. I have one brother and two sisters. When I was younger I liked to listen to rock and roll music. I used to play card games like Concentration with my brother and sisters.
We had a small swimming pool in the backyard where I laughed and splashed all afternoon with my rubber ducky. Our next-door neighbour, Mrs. Anderson, enjoyed watching us. I moved five times in the 1960s. A long time ago when I was younger, I liked to go walking in High Park to see the animals in the zoo. My favourite animal was the buffalo. We had family picnics with my aunts and uncles and my cousins in the park.
I remember one funny birthday. I was 11 years old. My mother played a game with me. She hid my birthday cake under the table and everybody laughed. We wore blindfolds and played pin-the-tail-on-thedonkey.
My family had a vegetable garden with tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and lettuce. Sometimes I helped to water the garden. I like vegetables. There are many vegetables that have such beautiful colours. I like colourful gardens because they are beautiful.