Rest in peace, Chiyako.

Yesterday, Gigi called to tell me that she had recently learned that Chiyako had passed. All she knew was that she had been hospitalized for pneumonia and had been poorly of late.

This was shocking news to all of us who knew her. It's been 10 years since she'd returned to Japan and it had not been possible to really keep in touch. She would drop a note for holidays and birthdays but I could never get a correspondence going. 

We originally met at Westside Ballet taking class with Aimee and then Joan. We, along with Yuki, shared a birthday month and year.  This picture was from a gathering at Joan's house in 2006, around Christmas.