My Life With NOBI - Washington, James

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Résumé :

Synopsis: My Life with Nobi is a story of two people whose lives were such that they had little or no chance of meeting had it not been for World War II. She was born and lived her early life on the island of Hokkaido, Japan while I was born and lived my early life in Little Rock, Arkansas. I have always thought that she was given to me by God, not because I deserved her, but because we were two lost souls aimlessly going through life. Our story takes us through the problems of Army Regulations prohibiting us from showing affection to the Japanese women and a few times where racial prejudice raised its ugly head. There were times when I had to be approved by her guardian before I was permitted to kiss her goodnight. When all of the problems were solved our love for each other grew and span over a period of sixty-two years. Our story includes how we raised our children, the heartache of losing one to a dreaded disease called Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, and the problems of everyday life like the middle-class family that we are. I am not too proud of the period immediately following my return from the Vietnam War. I was sick and needed the help of a psychologist to put my life back together. It was because of our love for each other that we got through this period.

About the Author: I entered military service (army) at the age of 17 after obtaining my parents' consent. I spent the next 24 years of my life serving my country. After basic training, I was sent to Japan where I met the love of my life and my lifetime partner. Accounts of my life with her are outlined in my book, My life with Nobi. I was also sent to Korea soon after the outbreak of the Korean War and served there until I was eligible for rotation. I was then permitted to return to Japan to marry my sweetheart, a union that lasted until her death. I also served in Germany and France in addition to several posts in the United States. I retired from the Army on July 31, 1972. After retirement, I worked for a finance company but did not like it because I am too softhearted to chase after people to encourage them to pay their debts, especially during hard times. To occupy my time until a real job came along, I worked for J.C. Penney selling hardware. I had learned to program computers while serving in France, so I waited until I could get a job doing this because it paid more money. After 18 months I was lucky enough to be hired by Granite Construction Company bidding jobs with the computer. I worked there for 8 years before moving to Responsive Data Service. I was one of 18 programmers customizing IBM systems to fit individual customers. I remained there until I decided to retire for good. My wife and I travelled throughout the country until her death.