The Reason We're Here

If you had told me fifteen years ago how fortunate we were to be where we were at the time, I might have needed a bit more convincing. Those were days of around-the-clock graduate work for Chris, and it wasn't uncommon for him to return home after working all day and throughout the night with his professor, Dr. Kasai,  just as I was leaving for work in the morning.  It was an intense time! 

Shortly after Chris's graduation,  Professor Kasai returned to Japan and since that time has continued his relentless pursuit of engineering truths with graduate students from around the world. It was Dr. Kasai's gracious invitation that brought us to Japan, during which time he and Chris continued their ongoing collaboration on a paper. Evidently they had some unfinished business from 1998 and I'm told now that they are mere revisions away from finally publishing the work they began during Chris's doctoral program. I'll believe it when I hold the journal in my hands!

But how can I complain? This experience has been an exceptional one for our family, and while here we have had the opportunity to spend rare moments outside of work with Dr. Kasai and his present graduate students. By all accounts, the good professor hasn't changed a bit! The graduate students all share similar and familiar traits: they are challenged and work long and hard hours, but they are truly very fortunate  - even if they don't know it yet.

As Chris remarked during his farewell party speech, when you graduate from Kasai Lab, no matter where you go in the world of structural engineering, you will be recognized as having come from the best. Such is Kasai-sensei's international reputation for excellence and rigor. I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity Chris has had to work with this exceptional individual, both then and now!

Every other month or so, Dr. Kasai would have his students organize a 'drinking and eating party', usually to celebrate the arrival of a new student or to say goodbye to a graduate. Our kids looked forward to these gatherings...always well-attended, always delicious, and always fun!