Every Person is a Story

I was born in a tiny island called Guam. My Dad who was an electrical engineer by profession was working for the US Naval Air Force and was stationed there as a powerplant controller of the naval runway. My Dad is Chinese-Hawaiian from Hilo, my Mom a Venezuelan-Korean.

My grandparents are settlers, which means they moved from different countries and eventually immigrated in Hawaii in the late 1800. My Dad was born in 1909, the youngest of 5 children and my Mom in 1951, only girl in her family. Their marriage was arranged to keep the bloodline. My Dad and my Mom’s father are first cousin. Mom’s parents are especially interesting as both of my greatgrandmothers Kyung Mo Eh (pronounced Lee and Julia Lamson) were religious reformers. One being a strong Protestant, and the other a Catholic. Much of my greatgrandparents influence was to raise either my Dad as a minister or my Mom as a nun.

Growing up in beautiful Hawaii island,  my Dad who retired two months after I was born was deeply involved in his social community club called Lion’s Club.  My Dad being the president of the club affected our lives tremendously in how we lived. My parents were always busy with their community projects- saving and rebuilding parks, building community bridges or roads, raising funds for polio vaccine and cataracts. There was always some sort of travel and party going on in their lives, and basically, their social activity took them away from us, me and my three siblings. 

Constantly leaving us behind with four hired domestic helps, a cook, a housekeeper, a nanny and a driver made our lives so abnormal. I don’t ever remember tasting my mother’s cooking or help me put on my school uniform or socks. I’ve only often seen my parents rushing through the doors on the way out or on the way in the house late or early mornings. My Mom was always my Dad’s wife first, before she was our motther, and this truly made our lives as little children more difficult.

 The club’s demand on our parents also made my parents relationship shaky and caused alot of domestic issues such control from my Dad towards my Mom and my Mom’s emotional unstability and dependency on my Dad. I think that my Mom grew tired of the active lifestyle and was seeking her independence from my Dad. This lead to alot of fights between my parents and were headed to divorce.  The situation made it worst when my parents sold our beautiful home and caused my Mom to run away, but only to realize later that she went to New York and joined a fundrasing team called MFT. My Dad had hired a lawyer at around this time for the sole custody of us his children, and also as a way to make my mother return home.

I was 7 years old when my Mom left my family- my Dad and her four children to joined the Unification Church. Aside from my parents social club, my family was a strong Southern Baptist Christian. Most of my relatives who were Baptist were against my mother when she joined the Unification Church. The greatest accusation of my christian relatives towards my Mom was that she left my Dad and her children to be with another man… like a pimp from the Unification Church. It was an ugly rumor that hurt her children alot, my Mom being called a prostitute for the Unification Church, selling her body on the street to make money for the church.

Three and half years later while my Mom was still on an active mission in the church when my Dad passed away. During that three and half years, we also live with our grandparents for a little more than  two years. My grandmother who was a strong Catholic taught us- particularly me, a life of prayer, service and attendance to God. Every morning my grandmother woke up before sunrise which is around 4:00 am and faces the sky and kneel as she opens her arms to heaven, bow, and prays.  My grandmother’s image praying never left my memory until today. She believes in the power of God that watches over his children. She believes that God sends his angels to protect every living soul on earth good and bad. She believes in a gentle God filled with kindness and mercy. She believes that all humans have a God like quality of kindness and mercy in their hearts, and that these quality serves a great purpose of healing the world from every hurt and pain.

My grandparents own a little farm, and every farm animal which we use to kill and eat must be taken care of with kindness and kill with gratitude.  My grandmother would always serve the best portion of a meat to a guest who comes to her house whether that guest is friend or a stranger, she always served the best meal, fruits or sweets. She would give her best bedding and her nicest room to whoever came and visit. My grandfather was a very stern man. He always made sure that we get our responsibilities done in his house. My sisters, brother and I all have separate choir which my grandfather directly watch or oversee that we did our choirs properly or correctly. At meal times, we always gather and ate together, breakfast and dinner, and there was always some sort of a table lecture from my grandfather before and after every meal. We had curfews, we were only allowed to wear skirt and dresses in the house.

After my Dad passed away, the US government knowing through my Dad’s lawyer that my Mom left my family had to ensure that we had a guardian. Upon my Dad’s will, my Mom inherits a pension and child support from my Dad for all of us until we were old enough and become independent. My Mom returned to our lives and she brought me and my sisters to live in New York at the New Yorker Hotel. This brings our life to a new chapter.

Growing up as a young teenager, I was 14 years old going on 15 that year when we first lived in OWP house in Astoria, then due to some mother figure struggle my Mother had with a Japanese sister named Mrs. Hessel, my mother reluctantly moved us to  New Yorker Hotel. My Mom’s worries for us teenage girls living in a big city was actually a sign of weakness from her and her little faith. New York - Manhattan was the biggest playground a young girl could ever have. New Yorker Hotel was like a magical building for me at that time. I can disappear in and out of the building elevators,  slide down between the escalators to the basement. Play basketball in the terrace room hide and seek from the fourth floor down to the lobby.  I would scream my heart out laying in the middle of the floor in the grandball room and no one would hear me. I would stand upside down on my head infront of the mirrors on the fourth floor hallway to see my hundred multiple image reflection through the mirrors. Ride the backdoor elevators and smell all the stinky trash on almost every floor. Climb the stairs from basement to 40th floor until I loose my breath and then go down on the other side of the staircase that swirl. Scare the secury guard, find missing little children, in and out of the revolving entrance door at the lobby. It was heaven! At night, I would stroll the city streets until 2 or 3 in the morning under the mustard color lights that brightened the street with a mysterious glow. Buy my favorite milkshake or caramel/fudge sundae and apple pie across the street at McDonalds. I thought life was beautiful!

At round that time, I also started studying martial arts called Won Wha Do, and slowly became more inolve in HARP and CARP activity. Then I was introduced to Camp Sunrise, the first one I ever attended was in Barrytown. There that I later learned I was someone they called Jacob, and where I felt unwanted by many parents and where their children also avoided me because I was not a BC, and I was a possible horrible influence to the other BC’s. Actually, it was at Camp Sunrise where I first saw young girls and boys smoking cigarrettes and drinking beer. At that time, I didn’t even know what cigarrettes and beer were like. I’ve never seen the stuff around me in reality. I’ve probably seen it in a billboard or something but to actually see it infront of me and with kids my age was different. I didn’t really enjoy my first expereince at CAMP Sunrise with the kids my age.  But what I learned from the adult, DP lectures and all was spiritually opening me about the life of being or becoming a Moonie. Besides this and my many expereinces listening to True Father’s speeches and lectures in Belvedere and WMC finally made me understand the life I am being prepared to lead.

I can’t list how many leaders and families or centers I’ve had, live in or with. Every place is different, every leader, families and brothers and sister I’ve worked with I’ve come to accept as my “life teachers”.  Some have their memories sketched here in my heart. Other’s I chose to let go and only remember the lesson learned from those expereinces. I learned that the greatest gift we can give to others is to be or become an inspiration. There is no better way to lead our own lives and influence others through inspiration. The work of inspiration comes both in good and bad expereinces. As they say, it takes rain and sunshine to create a beautiful rainbow. I am rather an optimistic person. I believe that there is a silver lining on every cloud, and every rain that drops carries with it a positive life energy.

Today my life have been blessed with a wonderful husband and four beautiful children directly from the love of our TP’s blessing. I am forever grateful to those people I met along the way, all the encounters that came across my path then that brought me to today. Indeed, God always watches over me.

My name is Connie Dee Sato, wife of Kazuyuki Sato, daughter of Esther & Vincent Cuizon, sister of Cathy Lynn, Laverne and Benjun Cuizon.