Grandpa Nagata

This is a pretty nice portrait of my Nagata grandparents.  My grandmother still lives in Hilo and spends part of the year in Honolulu with my mom.  My grandpa Nagata was a special man.  He was a handyman and painter most of his life.  Boy could he paint.  I remember that when I was very young he was pretty strict.  I guess because I could be nothing but trouble.  I remember him eating a lot.  At dinner we would all get a serving of rice and then the remaining pot with rice was what my grandpa ate.  He also had the same haircut as long as I knew him.  A short cut that my grandma gave him with shears.  I used to run my hands over them enjoying the poky feeling on my hands.  She used to cut my hair too.  As I got older I realized how thoughtful my grandpa was.  I was working and would go to Hilo for business every now an then.  I would make sure to go over for lunch and sometimes I would buy lunch and bring it over.  I especially liked two kinds of fish cake.  One hot and one cold.  Without fail my grandpa would buy some of each for me to take home.  I mean a few months supply.  The cold fish cake called Kamaboko would be an entire box filled with about a dozen of the soft pink fish cake that had a unique Hilo taste.  He also had a real sense of humor.  We would go out to the yard which was an arboretum of sorts.  My grandparents grew everything imagineable.  Pineapple, apples, mangos, sugar cane, lemons, limes, guava, macadamia nuts... and on to my story.  Grandpa had a wooden block with a divot carved out that would hold a mac nut in place...for you to hammer the exterior shell on.  We would eat them raw and they were great.  I will never forget the smile on his face as he gave me one and ate one himself, saying to me..."Don't tell grandma now."  She knows these are too rich for me.  Another story I will never forget is when I came to Hilo with some friends to spend the week at a beach house.  Well I borrowed his car.  An old mazda stationwagon.  His departing advice was, "Don't go danga place."  Translation Dangerous Places.  I told that to my friends and we had a great laugh.  Whenever we drove to an end in the road or a remote scenic area everyone jokingly scolded me.... eh no go danga place!
My grandpa died of cancer and I got to spend some time with him just before he passed.  I miss him dearly.