I finally gathered the courage to look through my high school yearbooks and hunt for the message Mrs. Yamashita left me. Here’s what she wrote:

Liberty – What a year you’ve had! I remember the first time I really heard you speak was during the partner introductions @ the beginning of the year; that’s also when I learned your birthdate!! (Happy July 4th, by the way.) You’ve been a joy to teach—a veritable sponge, soaking up so much. Continue to search for meaning and justice, + make this world better. And… keep playing music! Come visit next year.

♥ Aysta

P.S. Beastie Boys RULE! Ha! Ha!

P.P.S. Weezer, too!

Of course, “Aysta” is short for Asa Yamashita. And apparently, I was such a fangirl, she made it a point to mention my two favorite bands at the time in postscripts.

I have a few memories from Mrs. Yamashita’s freshman honors English class. I remember reading Romeo & Juliet and how she had us reword it with dialects of our choice. Imagine the class perform the play in pidgin English. She took a piece of Shakespearean literature, which, with its 16th century language, would have meant nothing to us. But Yamashita found a way to make the story not only relevant, but engaging, entertaining, and memorable for us, as well. After all, we couldn’t translate the story if we didn’t understand it first.

The other memory I have of the class was, oddly enough, as much about life as it was about death. The assignment: 100 things to do before you die. I’m gonna rename that and call it “100 things to do in life.”

I wish I had kept my list. Maybe I’ll start making a new one. The first three line items will be from the yearbook message she left me.

I don’t know what Mrs. Yamashita would have written on her list. But judging from the turnout at tonight’s memorial for her at Waianae High School, I would say she accomplished more than 100 things in her life, as far as the number of lives she touched.

We’ll miss you, Mrs. Yamashita. Your legacy lives on.