Jin Sakai

A rather ordinary Saturday turned into a good day for me. I got a surprise, talked to my cousin, and hung out with a friend.

Marcie made plans to go to Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon with her mom to watch her friend do a triathlon Sunday morning. This meant I would be alone for the first real time since Kota left us. I am taking the loss much better, but it still hurts. How would I do? How would I react? Only the day would tell.

I got up early, like normal, and cut the grass at 8:30am. After blowing the grass off my driveway and road, I came in. I wanted to let the blades of my mower cool down. Routinely I prop the mower up, climb under and scrape all the grass that builds up under there. Today there was a ton.

After that was complete, I came inside, took a shower and Marcie and I headed to lunch. One of our favorites. Panera. After lunch, we came home, and I called my older cousin Mickie. Mickie has breast cancer and had surgery last Tuesday. All went well, but I had not spoken to her since before the surgery. She said she was feeling good, had only taken ibuprofen for pain and shared a story about her mom (who also had breast cancer) with me. We chatted for a while and then hung up.

My friend Shawn had made plans to come visit me after 4pm on Saturday as well. He wanted to give me a gift. Shawn had recently purchased a 3D printer and when telling him it would be cool to have a statue “printed” he jumped on the chance to do it. Today (Saturday) was his delivery of that gift.

I play a video game called Ghost of Tsushima. It is a Samurai game based on the historical events of Mongols invading Japan, and intern killing many Samurai. The game itself is very entertaining and visually stunning. The main character is a young Samurai named Jim Sakai, who travels small islands doing missions, killing Mongols, and freeing his people. I have spent countless hours playing this game. I told Shawn at a recent lunch meeting that it would be “cool” to have a statue of Jin. Today it arrived.

Shawn arrived around 5pm and came inside with a box. He grinned as he handed it to me. I slowly raised that foot tall statue and admired its detail. It was stunning. He told me how it was “printed”, how many pieces it had, and how long it took. He pointed out all the details, which I was already noticing. We then took the statue downstairs so I could show him the stunning visuals of the actual video game. He watched, asked questions, and then he headed home.

You can read about the island and its bloody history here.

That evening I played some more of my game, while my new statue sat next to the television. I watched a few horror movies and eventually went to bed. Reflecting on the day, I was not only honored by Shawn’s willingness to “print” me this statue, but also the fact he brought it to me, and seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. It is the little kind gestures in life that make it worth me getting up every morning. I smiled and thank God I have Shawn in my life, that Mickie is doing well, and that I am the lucky one to know them both.

Until next time,

Tim (Kilmer)