Christmas 2003
By the time Itsuki Gonzales was twelve years old he was receiving national recognition as a piano prodigy, but Seth kept him humble and grounded. He would take Itsuki with him as he volunteered at various area Food Banks and homeless shelters, helping those in need.
“Did you notice the one thing the people we helped today have in common?”, he asked his son at the end of the day on the drive home.
“Not really dad, what is it?”
“It’s their faces. Did you see the glow in their beautiful faces when they were finally able to provide for their families? You helped put the glow of hope back in their faces. It’s a look you’ll never forget and always want to see again and again throughout your life.”
“Yeah Dad, you’re right,” as Itsuki nodded and smiled. “They were awesome.”
Mary was attending Graduate School at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles to obtain her Masters of Fine Arts degree. After two years at the University of Washington Annie married Steve Johnson who she met at the UW and they went to live and work in Paris for a few years. They both however kept tabs on their little brothers’ career path which was being managed full time by their father Seth. But with worldwide recognition came scrutiny. During the Holidays a lawsuit was filed claiming legal guardianship over the minor child Itsuki by a distant relative of his late step father Haru Tanaka.
In the downtown Seattle office of Seth’s longtime friend and attorney Charlotte Jenks, they were in deep discussion. Being on the 15th floor of the Westlake Center and facing west he could see the glistening waters of the Puget Sound as he stared out at the panoramic view.
“C’mon Charlie, this can’t be serious.”
“Well Seth, they did officially file a lawsuit suing for custody.”
“How can they win? I’m Itsu’s biological father.”
“But according to Japanese law what you have is referred to as shinken meaning legal custody.”
“Okay, then why the lawsuit?”
“They are suing for kangoken, or physical custody.”
“You’re kidding me, right? They can separate the two custody’s?”
“Yeah, they can over there.”
“So, what’s their end game and why haven’t we heard from them before now?
“I don’t know. I’ll certainly investigate. Just so you know, I got a text from Itsuki wanting to talk with me privately. Is that okay with you?”
“Sure. He’s just out in your conference room talking with Christine, your paralegal.”
The drive home with Seth was silent, until he switched on the radio to the local 24-hour Christmas music station. Itsuki could tell things were weighing heavy on Seth’s mind.
“Are you okay dad?”
“Yeah pal, how are you doing?”
“I’m okay too.”
“What we need is a couple of Big Macs and some retail therapy,” he said with a smile and a wink.
“Yeah dad, more Christmas shopping!”
“Alderwood Mall, here we come!” as they laughed and started to sing along with the music, the First Noel, the angels did say. . .
Christmas 2005
With Mary and Annie home for the Holidays they accompanied their dad to join the packed audience in the Kellogg Middle School gym of for the Christmas Musical Program featuring 9th grader Itsuki Gonzales. As the eager friends and relatives found their seats and before Principal Evans started her welcoming Holiday speech, Annie turned to her dad with a burning question she’d been dying to ask, but was afraid of the answer.
“Dad, Mary and I still don’t know what happened.”
“What happened about what?”
“The lawsuit about Itsu last year.”
“Yeah Dad, how did you resolve it?”
“I didn’t, your brother did.” Both girls looked at each other with inquisitive expressions.
“What do you mean?” Seth put his finger to his lips and said,
“Shhh. . . it’s starting.”
After Principal Evans speech the lights dimmed and the festive Christmas music began. All of the school’s choruses and glee clubs, bands and orchestra’s put everybody in the Holiday mood. As a finally, Itsuki’s solos of selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and Mendelssohn’s Hark the Herald Angels Sing had everybody singing. After the applause, the lights went up and the happy crowd proceeded to leave.
“Now wait dad, we’re not going anywhere until you tell us.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s move over there to get out of the crowd and wait for your brother.”
“Okay Dad, what happened?” demanded Annie.
“The other party dropped the lawsuit,” Seth whispered in the middle of the noisy crowd, as he looked for Itsuki.
“Wait, what? Why did they do that?” asked Mary. Suddenly Seth saw Itsuki among the hundreds of people and waved him over as many stopped him to offer their personal congratulations on his brilliant performance. Seth continued,
“That little man right there. He told them in no uncertain terms, that if by chance he ended up with them, he would quit and never play the piano again.” Both Mary and Annie looked bewildered at each other as the unselfish revelation sunk in. Itsuki saw his sisters and ran towards them and they saw him in a different light. He was willing to give up what he loved the most to keep the family together. They all held each other in a long embrace and it was as if time stood still. We love you Itsu!
to be continued