Stories of Lost Children
Flying With Angels
by Grace Sato, Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Tamiko was born in Hawaii but spent most of her life in Jersey City. She was a beautiful girl with an infectious spirit. When she was 5, after returning from a trip home, she had her first "accident". Her father, her sister Reiko, and I were eating Oreo cookies. Tamiko went into the bathroom and threw up. When she emerged, she was clinging to the walls, and her eyes were pulled to the side. She couldn't see and her head hurt bad, she said. She was taken to 3 hospitals being diagnosed with Arterio Venuous Malformation. She recovered with some therapy but was limited in her activities. She needed MRI's and MRA's and CAT scans every year. She was kept out of school for 2 months. Her doctors said that it would happen again, usually around puberty. We just figured that it would be more therapy and tests but she would be fine. Everything seemed normal and I thought Tamiko would be okay. On August 15, 2001, the day began as normal. Tamiko was cheerful as usual. At around 5:30 p.m. the headaches started and she began calling her father and I. I didn't get the message on my cell until 8:30 even though I was only 3 blocks away. By the time her father got to the house, she was unconscious, not trying to breathe and her blood pressure dropped to around 90. At the age of 8 years and 8 months, Tamiko suffered a massive subcranial hemmoraging and died as a result of the pressure of the blood on her brain. In my heart, I know she died in my house on the couch even if she was pronounced at the hospital. I can't believe how on that day she and I spoke of how excited she will be when she graduates 8th grade, what career she will choose, that she was pleased to have passed 2nd grade, and in a matter of hours, she was gone. I will never get to see her grow up. All that I can think now is that an Angel was needed elsewhere and so she was taken from me. Since we had to let Tamiko go, we decided to donate her organs to give others a chance to live. Reiko and I look forward to the chance of meeting her recipients. Maybe one of them loves to sing and dance. I miss love and miss her so much.
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