Honoring Bill

Dear Gallagher Family:

I wanted to send flowers to Bill Gallagher's grave, but found out that he was placed into the San Francisco Bay.

Moki told me a story that his father told him when they were together in Frankfurt, Germany in 1992. Bill told Moki that the Main River in Frankfurt Germany where they were standing connected to the Rheine River that connected to the sea, then to the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean which connected to the San Francisco Bay and eventually to his house in Diamond Springs, California. Moki asked his father what he was trying to say, and Bill said that we are all connected in this water world.

Frankfurt, Germany
Diamond Springs, California

Moki told me that I could honor Bill by placing Chrysanthemum Flower - Kiku in a river by my house in Shimane, Japan. The lake is called Shinji Lake, then the lake connects to Nakaumi River which goes out to the Japan Sea, from there into the Pacific Ocean and finally to San Francisco Bay where Bill Gallagher was laid to rest.

Shimane, Japan
Bill Gallagher Burial at Sea

My thoughts go out to Bill. He was a friend and a great teacher in my life. Bill asked me once before I went on my mission with the Mormon Church what I planned to do on my mission; I told him that I would do good missionary work. Bill told me, in order to do great missionary work, you should start by feeling the spirit in your heart. You should be a great spiritual teacher, and then missionary work will come naturally. Moki said that being what you want, leads to doing what you want, and finally will have the best result with the least amount of effort. That is what Bill was teaching. Moki said the idea comes from Zen Buddhism. Bill taught Moki, like he taught me, that most people go about doing things in life in order to have something, which lets them be something. But it was much easier to choose to be a certain way so that the doing came naturally with the least amount of effort.

The Gallagher family is very dear to our family in Japan. We talk about your family all the time.

Your Family are in our prayers.

With Love,
Sachiko Sota
Shimane Japan