In the fall of 1988 Ceth entered into his first year of high school. That same fall the high school developed a serious gang problem. Unfortunately, Ceth was one of the first students they chose to pick on. For three months they made our lives miserable. Undercover police officers were watching him at school. We had taps on our phones and extra surveillance on our home. We never knew from day to day what might happen. The superintendent of the school district told us that changing schools would not solve the problem and we did not have the option of moving so we were looking for answers. The superintendent told us that gangs picked on the weak, the ones that looked like victims. Ceth was quiet, shy, and reserved and fit the picture. It was suggested that we put Ceth in a good self-defense class or a martial art to build his self confidence. Coincidentally, less than one week later I received a coupon in the mail for Grandmaster Han's Academy and asked Ceth if he would like to try karate. He went to check it out. Several hours late he came home excited telling me how cool this Grandmaster Han was. The next day I went to sign him up and was immediately drawn to this oriental grandmaster. I remember feeling the power and peace I felt in his presence. I wanted what this man had. We talked quite awhile. He felt in many ways how I had always felt about life. Most of the time I felt like a fish out of water in the world. In his dojang I felt like I had found my home. Ceth trained for three weeks when I asked Grandmaster Han if I could do karate. "Sure", he said and signed me up. I put on that white uniform and felt like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. There were very few women in karate at the time and everyone seemed so young with great bodies and in excellent shape. I was 40 years old, out of shape, had no self-esteem, and suffered from panic attacks if I went more than 5 miles from my home. Getting up in front of people was not up for discussion. The first week that I trained I held back the tears during class but cried my eyes out when I got home. What was I thinking when I signed up for this? For some reason I could not quit and let this warm, sincere, gentle man or my son down so I stuck with it. No one took me seriously. Were they nice because of Ceth? Grand master Han called me into his office one day and told me he really liked Ceth and saw something in him he had not seen in other students and would like to see him be an instructor. It was fine with me. Ceth and I both loved the martial arts and we were here to stay. We talked about how someday we would go back to Missouri and build a karate school overlooking Cedar Lake.Watch what you wish for!!!
Part II - Moving to Missouri
Coming Soon!
