IMR: About the Author: Chronology

Chronology The days (or rather years) of my life in convenient list form. Some of the dates are only guesses, but fortunately, they won't be on the test. 1974 I'm born at 2:12 a.m. on November 6 at Kaiser Hospital in Honolulu. (The hospital is demolished in 1987 to make way for a luxury Japanese hotel.) 1976 My family moves from an Aiea townhouse on Iho Place to a three-bedroom home further up the mountain on Kaonohi Street. We lived there for a decade — it's where I grew up. 1977 My brother, Todd Hekauokalani Minoru Ozawa, is born on December 13. 1979 I start Kindergarten at Lunalilo Elementary School in Mo`ili`ili. 1984 My mother suffers a heart attack while at work, and is hospitalized for several weeks. My brother and I, mostly oblivious to the seriousness of her condition, are shipped off to live with our grandmother in North Kohala on the Big Island. 1986 I enter the eighth grade at Washington Intermediate School. I meet Nate there, and we become lifelong friends. My parents divorce. My brother and I move with my mom to Mililani, and my father and his mother move to an apartment in town. 1988 I start my freshman year at Mililani High School. 1990 My father remarries in March, making Gayle my stepmother, and a wonderful one at that. My father also makes an unsuccessful run for the Honolulu City Council. I join the staff of the Trojan Times, the Mililani High School student newspaper, under the guidance of Mrs. Faye T. "Cujo" Tanaka. Here begins a lifelong obsession with journalism. I meet Wayne, who to this day remains a good friend and an unfailingly interesting individual. 1992 I graduate Magna Cum Laude from Mililani High School in June. I start as a freshman at the University of Hawai`i–Manoa. I fall hard for Pam, an online friend, over the summer, and she becomes my first girlfriend days before leaving for school on the Big Island. I soon decide to move to the Big Island, and Pam breaks up with me over Thanksgiving. I decide to move anyway. 1994 I transfer to the University of Hawai`i–Hilo in January. My first time living alone, I finally figure out how to do laundry in the Hale Kehau dormitory. Also in January, I meet Jennifer Anne Eno, the Marine Biology major from Ocala, Florida, who will eventually become my wife. Jen and I finally admit we're dating exclusively on April 1 — April Fool's Day. I hope she wasn't joking. I'm appointed Editor-in-Chief of Ke Kalahea, the weekly UH-Hilo student paper, in June. 1995 I'm appointed Editor-in-Chief of Ka Leo in June, and return to Honolulu while Jen remains on the Big Island. 1996 Jen transfers to UH–Manoa, but her grades suffer. She leaves school and takes various retail jobs. I found Diarist.Net, a portal for web journals, in June. 1997 Jen and I hit what might be charitably called a "bad patch." We separate quite messily in March, and I put Jen on a plane back to Florida in May. After leaving Ka Leo, some friends and I start University aVenue, an alternative campus newspaper. Hijinks ensue. Jen calls to tell me she's pregnant on June 18. She returns to Hawai`i on June 24. Started In Medias Res, an online journal, in November. Jen and I get married on November 17 at the District Court building in Downtown Honolulu. 1998 My daughter, Katherine Masami Kilinahe Ozawa, is born on January 26. Jen escapes retail hell and becomes a spectacular stay-at-home mom. To make ends meet, I work several campus jobs, including at the Academy of International Business and the University of Hawaii Press. I also begin doing freelance web design for other university departments. In the summer, I start working as a student intern at the Honolulu headquarters of the Pacific Basin Economic Council, an international trade association. By the end of the year, I'm part of the full-time staff. My first business trip? Los Angeles in October. 1999 My job takes me to Hong Kong in May and New Zealand in September. Both are unforgettable experiences. 2000 After much planning, hand-wringing, and screaming, I fly off to Pittsburgh in October (with a stopover to see Nate in Portland) for the first-ever JournalCon conference of online diarists. It's since become an annual tradition. My job takes me to Singapore in November, and I seize the opportunity to run around Tokyo a little as well. 2001 My job takes me to Tokyo in April and Shanghai in October. I finally graduate with a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Hawai`i–Manoa in August. 2002 My job takes me to Kuala Lumpur in May. My son, Zachary Masaru Kauanoe Ozawa, is born on June 3. Zac undergoes major surgery in October to repair sagittal synostosis, a birth defect. 2003 After five years, I leave the Pacific Basin Economic Council for a new job as Internet Banking Manager at Hawaii National Bank. My daughter Katie starts kindergarten, first at Lincoln Elementary School then transferring to Voyager, a charter school. In October, I fly to Austin to visit Greg and attend the fourth-annual JournalCon conference. My brother Todd graduates from UH with a degree in psychology. 2004 Jen and I celebrate ten years together as a couple, with southern food, of course. Irene Henderson, my maternal grandmother, passes away in May. My family and I move in with my mother soon after. Alexander Mori Kekuanaoa Ozawa, our third child, is born in August. I turn thirty in November, while visiting L.A. 2005 In January, Katie turned seven. In April, we visited Hilo. We missed it so much, we went back in November. In July, my paternal grandmother died. In December, we moved Katie from Mililani Waena Elementary to Kipapa Elementary, where Zac was enrolled in preschool. 2006 In October, Hawaii is shaken by an earthquake. 2007 After four years, I leave Hawaii National Bank for a new job as Webmaster at Hawaii Information Services.

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