IMR: People: Katherine

Ozawa, Katherine Masami Kilinahe Aliases: Katie, K E-Mail: katie@ozawa.org Web: http://www.ozawa.org/katie

Katherine, my daughter, was born at 11:38 p.m. on Monday, January 26, 1998 at Kapi`olani Medical Center for Women and Children. She weighed six pounds and 3.3 ounces, and was 19 inches long. She came into the world a day after an ultrasound technician predicted she would, and a day before her doctor's guess. The only thing that mattered, of course, was that she popped out well after the Rolling Stones' concert and Super Bowl XXXII... both of great significance to her doctor. Her birthdate fell a mere 26 hours before the official start of the Chinese lunar year, making her — in my view — an honorary (and fellow) tiger. Technically, though, she's a fire ox. Her given name, Katherine, was actually picked out years ago. On Sunday, Nov. 5, 1995, to be exact. Jen, thinking it insane to be thinking of children after we had been together barely 14 months, signed a contract affirming such. Our friend Nate and his roommate Tim signed as witnesses. Even though that crumpled piece of paper came back to haunt her, Jen — who otherwise wanted Lauren — reluctantly agreed that Katherine was a great name. Classic but not too old sounding, and more importantly, versatile. Our daughter, in time, can choose from many variations. Kate, Katie, Kathy, Kat, Kay or even Terry (or so Jen says). To prevent confusion in her pre-teen years, we'll likely call her Katie. Her Hawaiian name, Kilinahe, means warm and gentle rains, much like those that fell in Hilo where Jen and I met. Jen was dubbed Kilinahe when she took a Hawaiian language class. We wanted to further empower the name by conferring it at birth. Her Japanese name, Masami, means (broadly) kind and beautiful. The name and accompanying symbolic calligraphy was suggested by William, her godfather, who was a good friend and an invaluable source of support during Katherine's literally formative years. Katie stayed at home with her mom for the first three years of her life, then finally went to preschool — first at Montessori Community School, which was a disaster, then at the Honolulu campus of Kama`aina Kids. She then started kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary, which was... problematic, so she transferred to Voyager Charter School to finish out the year. She had to transfer once again when we moved to Mililani, but things stabilized somewhat after that. She is now a second grader at Mililani Waena Elementary School. She's taken swimming lessons and hula lessons at the YWCA, and played soccer with the Mililani AYSO.

Vitals:

Born 26 January 1998. Currently attending Mililani Waena Elementary. Older sister to Zac, born June 2002, and Alex, born August 2005.

Classmates:

2001-'02: Kama`aina Kids Honolulu (Rainbow Class) — Cole Dante, Colt Dante, Brandon Addison, Tiare Akana, Derrian Angeles, Kalia Arcibal, Donovan Benjamin-Luis, Sedric Crowley, Michael Curtis, Tyler Hauser, Brandon Holloway, Kassidy Jovenal, Jesse Lee, Emily Marx, Sivai Mertyris, Tiana Ng, Taiyo Takemoto, Khonnor Wokasch-Marcos, and Elliott Yoon. 2002-'03: Kama`aina Kids Honolulu (Silver Stars Class) — Brandon Addison, Donovan Benjamin-Luis, Travis Castillo, Michael Curtis, Tyler Hauser, Sean Kaukani, Amber Kunimura, Jesse Lee, Sivai Mertyris, Siobhan Neeson, Alia Onaga. 2004-'05: Mililani Waena Elementary (Mrs. Natalie Rodrigues' First Grade Class) — Quinn Corder, Kevin Costellano, Sadie-Lynn Freitas, Sharon Gonzales, Michael Herrera, Kelly Ho, Kaitlin Kau, Kailey Kurashige, Christian Lee, Caira Pearson, Kasey Ray, Micah Rice, Adan Saenz, Daniel Spaeth, Nicole Spotkaeff, Elijah Sullivan, Nathaniel Steele 2005-'06: Mililani Waena Elementary (Second Grade) — Hunter Bennett, Bradley Burt, Rebecca Eykyn, Sadie-Lynn Freitas, Sharon Gonzales, Destiny Guerrero-Kaupe, Austyn Gray, Sarah Hemenway, Brendan Hiyane, Palakiko Hookano, Kailee Jarrett, Arerion Johnson, Brooke Leslie, George Lewis III, Chelsea Lobitos, Christian Madayag, Keani Montero, Alister Pastrana, Bradley Patterson, Kenneth Payne, Jaynie Rodrigues, Adan Saenz, Rachel Sunada, Spencer Watson 2005: Mililani AYSO (U-8 Girls/"Cheetah Girls") — Ireland Castillo, Brooke Chinen, Catherine Flores, Rylan (Rylie) Nakasone, Erin Ohta, Ellie Shimatsu, Joey Tanaka and Sydney Tanaka.

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