Michael Morimoto
Episode 178

Narrator: Welcome friends to another episode of The Story & Experience Podcast. Join your host, Japhet De Oliveira with his guest today and discover the moments that shape us, our families and communities.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, welcome friends to another episode of The Story & Experience Podcast. I'm delighted to be here at Adventist Health Castle in Hawaii with my guests sitting across the table from me. If you're brand new to the podcast, we have 100 questions. They progressively become more vulnerable, closer to 100, and they're about stories and experiences that shaped this leader into the leader that they are today. I'm going to ask the first 10, they're smiling, so this is a good sign, and then we'll take it from there. So the first one is, could you tell us your name and does anybody ever mispronounce it?

Michael Morimoto: So my name is Michael Morimoto.

Japhet De Oliveira: Michael Morimoto?

Michael Morimoto: Morimoto.

Japhet De Oliveira: Morimoto, okay.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, it's like the Iron Chef Morimoto.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Michael Morimoto: And when you have a name like Michael, it's always mispronounced.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: So how do people pronounce it?

Michael Morimoto: Micklope. Mike. Mikey. Mikey Man.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right.

Michael Morimoto: Mitchell, Mikel. Yeah. There's a variety of names come out.

Japhet De Oliveira: Michael's. Good. We'll go with that. That's good. Well, Michael, what do you do for work?

Michael Morimoto: So I'm the manager for the oncology program here at the Venice South Castle.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, really?

Michael Morimoto: Hospital. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. That's a pretty intense program.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's hard. Oncology.

Michael Morimoto: I've gotten into oncology maybe for the last six years out of my 34 years in healthcare.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh really?

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. And what drew you into oncology?

Michael Morimoto: Well, I started out as a nurse, basically wanting to get into pediatric oncology. That was my focus back in the late 80s.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: And at that time, maybe it was a blessing. There wasn't a job opening. And so I had an opportunity to go to the Queen's Medical Center where I worked in a pediatric/adult program.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: And through the program I've gotten to see pediatrics and adults.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: And then as our department started to focus more in, it began to concentrate on post-surgical procedures like kidney surgeries, prostate surgeries, breast surgeries. So a lot of them were cancer-related on the surgical side. And then when I had the opportunity to become a director, the opportunity presented itself and I became the director for oncology at Queen's.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Michael Morimoto: And so that was the start of my-

Japhet De Oliveira: The impetus of the journey.

Michael Morimoto: ... my leadership role into oncology. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. All right. I've got to ask, because it's a very hard field. How do you replenish your soul with the difficult things that go on with the losses that you experience?

Michael Morimoto: I have been very fortunate and blessed. I have not had cancer be a big issue in my family. So my father, my mother, my grandparents, my aunties, uncles, I haven't had a lot of cancer. So I think it was a blessing not to relive those moments through family when I have patients.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: So as far as replenishing it's one of those things where dealing with cancer patients is for me the same as dealing with any other patient. So there's a lot of empathy, there's a lot of feeling. The only difference is oncology has a higher mortality rate than other diagnoses.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: And so I think maybe later on we could talk more about my past history and how it reflects on how I'm dealing with death and dying and the not so happy.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, Michael, you can't say something like that and just let it go, so I need to know now. Tell me, speak into that. Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: So when I was young, there was three distinct moments that I should have died.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Michael Morimoto: So when I was, I think it was three or five years old, somewhere around there, my mom was watching me at the entrance of a cul-de-sac riding my tricycle. And all of a sudden a neighbor drove in to the cul-de-sac and literally ran over me. And so in a blink of an eye, my mom didn't see me anymore and heard the crunch of the car hitting the tricycle. So she thought I died.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: But what happened, and it's probably God's plan, is the tricycle protected me from the tire. So I was right in front of the tire, tricycle got demolished. I did not even have a scratch.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh my God. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

Michael Morimoto: And then when I was, I think I was nine, 10, when I was 10, I fell off a cliff.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. About a 12-foot cliff and landed on my head and probably should have broke my neck or something bad should have happened. And my brother was up there with a neighbor and they thought I died. My brother was asking my neighbor, "Hey, where's Mike?" And, "He's down there, I think he's dead."

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh my goodness.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. My brother would tell me, my brother's five years older, so he told me this story. And then the third time I was at the Hanama Bay, which is a famous bay where tourists come, you can swim with the fishes. And my friend didn't know how to swim, but he didn't tell me. So we both went there. He literally hung onto me to the point where I stopped breathing. I had to get resuscitated by the lifeguard, ended up in ICU.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. So I think it was those three moments that helped me to deal with death and dying a lot better because it was something that happened to me and-

Japhet De Oliveira: You faced it.

Michael Morimoto: ... I faced it, but it wasn't, yeah, it's just something I grew up with. And so I think when I became a nurse and dealing with the death and dying, and for whatever reason, when I started nursing, there was mostly women. Not as much men. I think it was maybe 15 to 20% were men. And so I would get all the hard patients just because. And so a lot of them were dying. And I think it was just those moments that I mentioned transformed me into who I am and how I deal with death and dying now. So it's very comfortable for me to deal with it, but yet it can be very anguishing, especially when it's a young patient.

Japhet De Oliveira: Sure. Sure. Yeah, it's difficult. Michael, thank you for sharing that.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Well, that was a different opening to the podcast. That's fantastic. You may have gone closer to 100 than you realized, so that's good. Michael, tell us a few little personal things about yourself like are you an early riser or late night owl?

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, so being a typical kid in Hawaii, I grew up being a late riser, waking up at 1:00 in the afternoon and getting my day started.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. That's brilliant.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. Staying up late. But as I started to get into nursing, so that was 34 years ago. I started to be more of an early riser. So now I come into work at 5:00. I'm in the office at 5 AM, and I like to get work done. And even on the weekends I start to wake up a little earlier. So yeah I'm an early riser.

Japhet De Oliveira: Early riser.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right. And then in the morning, do you have coffee or tea or liquid green smoothie? What's your first drink of the day?

Michael Morimoto: It's funny.

Japhet De Oliveira: Look at the smile he has on his face.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. So I'm known throughout both health systems that I've worked at, I don't eat breakfast and lunch.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Michael Morimoto: For 30 years.

Japhet De Oliveira: One meal a day?

Michael Morimoto: One meal a day when I'm working. And it wasn't because I was on a specific diet or I was trying to do something, it's just once I get going and work-

Japhet De Oliveira: You just got to get going.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, I get going and I don't get hungry. Sometimes I forget to drink water for 12 hours, which is not a-

Japhet De Oliveira: Not a good thing.

Michael Morimoto: Not a good thing.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay. Thank you.

Michael Morimoto: But then I started hearing their stories on fasting.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: And intermittent fasting especially.

Japhet De Oliveira: You were leading the way.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. Yeah. So I was leading the pack.

Japhet De Oliveira: Before they created it, you had done it.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. Yeah. But it allowed me to focus more on issues, because a lot of times when people eat, they get a little tired. And so I never get tired from post-prandial type of activities.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Hey, that's good. That's good. Well, it worked out for you. That's fantastic. So if people described you as an introvert or an extrovert, would you agree with one of those?

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, I would say by nature I'm an introvert, but because of my roles being a nurse, having to do one-on-one, being a manager director, you become more of an extrovert to a certain degree. I'm very calculated in what I speak and say. So I try to say either profound things or very in-depth type of questions. I get pretty serious. But I think by nature I'm more in the quiet side.

Japhet De Oliveira: Now, where were you born?

Michael Morimoto: I was born here in Honolulu.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh wow. So did you grow up here?

Michael Morimoto: I grew up here my whole entire life.

Japhet De Oliveira: Now, when you were a child growing up here, what did you imagine you want to grow up to be?

Michael Morimoto: Oh, that's a very good question. So my first job that I always wanted to do, maybe it wasn't a job. I've always wanted to be part of the Cousteau team. I'm not sure-

Japhet De Oliveira: The diving?

Michael Morimoto: Jacques Cousteau.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes. Yes.

Michael Morimoto: So many of the people listening to this might not know who Jacques Cousteau is. He's a guy who invented the Aqualung, but he had a TV show called, I forgot what it's called, but it was a Jacques Cousteau show and they would deal with animals. And I used to love animals. So I thought one day I'm going to be on the Cousteau team, travel the world. And then later on, I don't know why, but I got into a protective mode. I wanted to protect people. So I really was interested in becoming one of those special forces.

Japhet De Oliveira: Steven Seagal?

Michael Morimoto: Well maybe not Steven Seagal, like those CIA type people that have to protect the president. And I've always wanted to be one of those. And I think there was a movie that came out with Clint Eastwood, In the Line of Fire.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, that's a great one.

Michael Morimoto: And I thought, oh my gosh, when I was growing up in my teens, that's exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to literally, I wanted to take a bullet for the president. I wanted to be one of those heroes.

Japhet De Oliveira: I know. They were great. That's great. You know why I said Steven Seagal? Has anyone ever said to you you have a voice similar to his?

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, it's funny because I have a ponytail too, so I'm very soft spoken.

Japhet De Oliveira: Good point. Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, they mentioned it. Oh my gosh.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's right. That's really funny. What can I say?

Michael Morimoto: Except I'm a nurse.

Japhet De Oliveira: Except you're a nurse. But no, In the Line of Fire was a great movie as well. That's a great story. Yeah. Super. All right. Hey, leadership question for you. Are you a backseat driver?

Michael Morimoto: Well, we did one of those tests as a group for Adventist Health, and I became a driver amiable or an amiable driver. Which I thought was quite interesting because I'm not one of those drivers that you see, or I'm not a poster child for a driver, but I'm not a poster child for amiable either. So I think it's interesting that I was deemed based on the testing an amiable driver. But it seems true because I have a quieter approach to managing or to working with people or to supervising. I don't believe too much in micromanagement. And so I think it works out perfectly. But yeah, that's where I'm at.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. That's good. I like it. I like it. All right, the floor is open, Michael. So where would you like to go? Anywhere between 11 and 100.

Michael Morimoto: Well let's start maybe somewhere in the middle. Maybe 50.

Japhet De Oliveira: 50. All right, here we go. Share about who has influenced you professionally.

Michael Morimoto: Oh, I would say that's a very good question and that's only 50. I had a director. When I became a manager, I had a director, her name was Karen Hadwin. She came from Michigan. And she challenged me to take on more. And she introduced me to this gentleman who writes books. And he also has a group, his name is Quint Studer, and the group is called the Studer Group. And he goes around the country to educate health systems on improving their patient experience. And so she basically said, "Hey Mike, I want you to read this book, Hardwiring Excellence by Quint Studer. And I really want you to learn it and I want you to practice it." And of course, being a new manager, I am like, "Okay-"

Japhet De Oliveira: Took it aboard. Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. Took it aboard. And I said, "Okay, let me read it." And she was such a great manager because number one, she had a lot of faith and trust in me and she wanted me to do well. And then number two, she was a good resource for me. Being a very knowledgeable, very well-trained individual. So she shared a lot of ideas with me and it challenged me to become a better manager. As far as my early careers, who influenced me, I would say partly it's my parents. And I would say partly it's from the church as well. So I was a Christian, not early on, but I became a Christian later when I was in high school. And I think it's just the nature of wanting to give. As you see, most of the church-related professions are of giving nature. And so I think those are the foundation for me to be in the profession that I'm in right now.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Beautiful man, that's beautiful. That's brilliant. Thank you. Can you give us the next number then? Where do you want to go next? That was 50.

Michael Morimoto: Let's go to 70.

Japhet De Oliveira: 70. All right.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Where are you going with this?

Michael Morimoto: I might as well get it out of the way.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh yeah. Tell us about one thing that you are determined to accomplish, Michael.

Michael Morimoto: Ooh.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: That's a very good question. So I've been working since I've got here to Adventist South Castle. I'm on a mission to get things done.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Michael Morimoto: And so one of the things that I've tried to get approved, but I haven't, is the high-risk genetic program. So the high-risk genetic program is a program to identify patients who are at risk for some genetic condition that may lead them closer to getting a diagnosis of cancer.

Japhet De Oliveira: Is that similar to a head?

Michael Morimoto: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes. Yes.

Michael Morimoto: Yes.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes. Okay. Okay. I'm with you. I'm with you. Yeah. Yeah. So it's analysis where you can see some genetic markers that could help you know you could possibly have this kind of cancer in near future or something? Yeah. Okay.

Michael Morimoto: So like breast you have BRCA1, BRCA2.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. So it's one of those-

Japhet De Oliveira: I've actually got so many follow up questions for you. Go ahead.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, so it's one of those things where I put up the business case, I built a simplified proforma, presented it, and it got shot down. But deep in my heart, I know the program is going to be very good for the community, the Windward community, there's none here. So all of the patients that need some type of high risk for cancer genetic workup needs to go to Honolulu. Well, one of the things that I did when I presented my operational performance review for the administration when I came here, my five-year plan was the community has two things that they want of healthcare based on this marketing survey. One was they want quality care.

Japhet De Oliveira: Right, yes.

Michael Morimoto: But now they want convenience of care. And so when you look at the Windward side, when you look at cancer, the average age of cancer diagnosis is roughly around 65, 66 years of age. So we're talking older. A diagnosis of cancer on the Windward side, having to travel to town to get treatment is not always a good choice for people. And so I really wanted to bring a more comprehensive level of cancer care to the Windward community, with the understanding we will never be a high-level tertiary or quaternary cancer care.

Japhet De Oliveira: Sure. Sure.

Michael Morimoto: That's just not going to be what we are made up. But from the diagnostic, the pre-screening, the treatments, I think we have a good opportunity to provide at least 100% to the community. And it's a community that can make a decision where they'd like to get treated. But if we can provide the high-level care in a simplistic way to the Windward community, I think it would benefit these elderly patients tremendously.

Japhet De Oliveira: I like the passion.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: I like the passion. Keep at it.

Michael Morimoto: I am. And they know I'm not going to stop. It's going to happen.

Japhet De Oliveira: No, no, I get that impression, Michael. So now I've got to ask a follow-up question. And would you rather know the day you're going to die, or would you rather be surprised?

Michael Morimoto: Wow, that's like question number 220.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, I know, but I mean you're fighting for this, so I'm just curious. Yeah, tell me. For yourself. For yourself.

Michael Morimoto: I'd rather not know. And the reason why is once you know the date you're going to die, you may do things more selfishly. You may do things more for your enjoyment, for your pleasure, or just your satisfaction. Not knowing when I'm going to die always makes me wonder, is it going to be tomorrow? Is it going to be the next day? Is it going to be the end of the week? And so it keeps me on my toes. And so you never have a, "Bucket list." It's a bucket list that gets replenished.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yes, it does. It gets adjusted.

Michael Morimoto: And so you have to keep going because your bucket list is theoretically-

Japhet De Oliveira: Constantly evolving.

Michael Morimoto: ... I'm going to die on this day, so I got to get these things done. Well, I don't know. So I want to accomplish those, add more and accomplish and keep adding.

Japhet De Oliveira: Keep on.

Michael Morimoto: So yeah, I think for my well-being and for me to be more selfless, I'd rather not know when my day is up.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: But always be prepared that if that day comes, I better be ready.

Japhet De Oliveira: I like it, man. Yeah, that was a bonus question. You're welcome. Michael, thank you for answering that. All right, we're next now after 78.

Michael Morimoto: Let's go to 79.

Japhet De Oliveira: 79. All right. Oh, share a painful memory that you wish you could forget.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. So right off the bat, I was 21. I was... Was I 21? Yeah, I was 21. I was lost. I was going to college and then I dropped out of college, went into paramedics. And I was very fortunate to have a lot of good friends. And they were all going to college, getting their degrees. And I just was lost. And one night I came home from playing volleyball with the firemen and the paramedics. Got home and my mom says, "Hey, you have to go to the bowling alley." So we were living in Maunawili. My dad was in the bowling alley in Conway, which is about 10 minutes away.

Japhet De Oliveira: Okay.

Michael Morimoto: So I said, "What's going on?" She said, "The people that he's bowling with said he was not feeling good and he had chest pain. And they were going to call the ambulance, but he wanted to drive home." So my mom is-

Japhet De Oliveira: Worried.

Michael Morimoto: ... extremely worried.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: So of course I'm extremely worried, being in the medical field. And so I drove out going through red lights, driving up, and then I saw him coming down, leaning forward in his car. So I made an illegal U-turn, got home. And when I got home, my dad was in the toilet. And I said, "Dad, are you okay?" And he goes, "Yeah, I'm okay." So I said, "Mom, maybe I'll just take him to Castle Medical Center," which is only two minutes away from my mom's house, my mom and dad's house. And then he stood up, washed his hands and he said, "I feel like I'm going to pass out." And then he passed out. Stopped breathing, put him on the ground, started to do CPR in front of my mom. My mom called the paramedics and the fire department, 911. All the people that are playing volleyball with came, took him to Castle, he eventually died, never came back.

It's one of those things, I think being 21 in front of my mom, it was sudden, it's one of those things you wish you could have Déjà vu and relive it and turn things around before it happened, and figure out. But I think it's God's plan for me, for these things to happen. But at the time, being very immature at 21, it was very hard.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. It is.

Michael Morimoto: The good thing though, is my wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, said, "Your father mentioned something about nursing. Thought I'd be a good nurse." And I think that's-

Japhet De Oliveira: Why you're in that field.

Michael Morimoto: ... how my career started. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Wow. Living in tears. Legacy what he wanted for you.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Honoring him. Michael, thank you for sharing that.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: There are lots of people who when they listen to this, will relive their own memories. Yeah, their own pain. You have found a way to find good out of the difficulty.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, I'm an optimist by nature. I think when my father died, I was very angry.

Japhet De Oliveira: Sure.

Michael Morimoto: Wanted to fight all the time. And my brother would say, "Maybe that's where the Steven Seagal came from." But my brother would always say, "You got to stop wanting to fight and you got to stop blaming God. And you got to just accept what has happened." So straightened me out.

Japhet De Oliveira: Hey, that's tough stuff.

Michael Morimoto: It's good to have a good older brother.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's good to have a good older brother. That's true. That's true. All right, where next, sir? Where next?

Michael Morimoto: How about 85?

Japhet De Oliveira: 85. All right. Oh, describe a role model you aspire to be like.

Michael Morimoto: Oh.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: It's cliche, so maybe I'll just say I'll pick up somebody else. But because I'm a Christian, I aspire to be very biblical. Somebody like Jesus, somebody like a disciple.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: So yeah, I'll just get that out of the way.

Japhet De Oliveira: It's good. That's good.

Michael Morimoto: In reality, I think I mentioned my brother. My brother has never been somebody I used to look up to all the time.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh.

Michael Morimoto: But as I got older, I see him as a good role model. He's a good father. He is a pastor. He lives a very simple life. He's always positive. So I think he's been a good role model. My father was a role model, was quiet. He wasn't pushing me to do anything. If I didn't want to do judo or if I didn't want to do this, he's like, "Yeah, you don't have to." I wish he pushed more, but on the flip side, he was a good role model.

 And I have to say my close, I guess what I would call my golden friends, the ones that I knew from elementary school and intermediate, they've helped me to become the person I am. From the good things that they did and not the good things they did. But they've been a good role model for me because I'd lived with them for such a long time. And I got to really see what was very successful in their lives and what wasn't successful. And so it helped for me to envision what path I would go if I took some of the negative things they did, or if I took the positive things they did.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's good. That's good.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, so it was a combination of so many people.

Japhet De Oliveira: I love that. I love that. Hey, we have time for just two more. So two more numbers. Where?

Michael Morimoto: Well, let's go 99 and 100.

Japhet De Oliveira: All right, Michael, so number 99 now. What is the most difficult truth you've ever told?

Michael Morimoto: I remember working at another health system in a meeting. And my mom calls me. And so I step out of the meeting and she says, "Hey," her sister, my auntie, "Pauline, she got hit by a vehicle and she's going into the emergency room at Queens. Can you check up on her?" So I said, "Okay." So I stepped out of the meeting, went to the emergency room, and I was the first one there besides the family, my cousins. And I saw my auntie, she was not alive. And when they came and asked, "How is she?" And I think that was a very difficult moment for me to have to explain to my cousins and my mom when I had to call her up that their mother or their sister is no longer here.

Japhet De Oliveira: Oh, yeah.

Michael Morimoto: It was very difficult because I think I had no time to prepare. Just coming straight from a meeting, focusing on the meeting and then coming in not knowing what the heck's going to happen. And then all of a sudden I see my auntie there lying still on the table. And that was a pretty surreal moment for me, especially having to speak to the family.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, it's a lot to carry.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. And the good thing though from it, if there's any silver lining, was I spoke at my auntie's funeral and she was a Christian, and I put a lot of effort into the speech on what I remembered. And it went very well. So I had a lot of remembrances and-

Japhet De Oliveira: Celebrated her life well.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, yeah. And it also was therapeutical for me because I got to think about all those moments that you just normally don't think about.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's true.

Michael Morimoto: And how she touched me and all the things she did. And it brought back good memories. And I could hear a little laughter and chuckle in the audience and a lot of head nodding. And so yeah, I think it was very, if there was anything good about all of it, it was a moment.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's beautiful. Hey, thank you for sharing that, Michael. All right, question 100, final one. Could you tell us about one question that you just don't want to answer?

Michael Morimoto: One question that I don't want to answer. Who would I like to see die next in my family? That's something I hope I never have to-

Japhet De Oliveira: That is fair. That is fair.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: Because we don't want people to suffer, right?

Michael Morimoto: Yeah. Yeah. I've seen enough suffering. I've done enough suffering. I made people suffer. So yeah. I think that would be the one question.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah. Michael, it has been good to be able to talk to you. I have to say thank you for sharing the stories, the difficult stories as well. I resonate deeply with what you share personally as well, and so it means a lot. I think I want to say this about when you meet someone and you ask good questions, we learn about each other, right? And God helps us. We grow, we become better beings for it. So I encourage people to do the same. Meet with someone, ask them good questions and learn about them. Maybe have a cup of coffee together and do so, but I think it's really good for us.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: So thank you for your time.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, no, I appreciate it. And I hope people who hear this would have some of the same stories, but might not have the opportunity to share. So I really encourage people to go and talk to people and share your stories because it may not help you or it may help you, but it might help somebody else.

Japhet De Oliveira: That's true. That's true.

Michael Morimoto: And I think the more we share our stories, the more people will feel connected and realize in this giant Earth that we call home that a lot of people have the same-

Japhet De Oliveira: We're not alone.

Michael Morimoto: ... we're not alone. We have the same issues.

Japhet De Oliveira: Yeah, yeah, that's true. We can take care of each other for that.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah, we can take care of each other.

Japhet De Oliveira: Totally.

Michael Morimoto: Yeah.

Japhet De Oliveira: No worries. God bless my friend, and we will listen again and connect again with another episode.

Michael Morimoto: Thank you.

Japhet De Oliveira: God bless everyone else.

Narrator: Thank you for joining us for The Story & Experience Podcast. We invite you to read, watch, and submit your story and experience at adventisthealth.org/story. The Story & Experience Podcast was brought to you by Adventist Health for The Office of Culture.