My Mother

When my sister and I were growing up, I don't think my mother's life was much different than it would have been in Japan (other than the -40 C Edmonton winters!). She was a housekeeper and primary caregiver par excellence, and made sure we were clothed, fed and on time at school. She exposed us to interesting, diverse things: I was put into piano lessons, French classes, pottery, astronomy and craft courses, and (by my request) some strange, violent sport called "hockey", while my sister was enrolled in music classes, dance school, figure skating and competitive swimming.

Once we kids were old enough to look after ourselves, she began to reap the benefits of life on this side of the Pacific Ocean. She was able to start working at the Edmonton Public Library. After school, my sister and I would go to the library and wait until closing time so we could drive home with my mother. It was probably from seeing people find answers in the orderly collection of knowledge in books there that I got my interest in sorting, classification, information retrieval and knowledge management, which continues to this day in my careers of pathology and medical informatics.

Later, my mother became a sessional instructor of the Japanese language in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Alberta, a job she retired from in 2004. Since the last child left the house over ten years ago, she has been able to devote herself to her favorite pastimes, bridge and golf. She says Canada is now "home", and even though all of her family is in Japan, she doesn't really want to go back there unless it's absolutely necessary!