Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

My daddy

Seriously guys I am completely shocked and stubbed when i learnt I have to write on my Dad! I have no words to describe him, I have so many things going on in my mind so I am not sure where to start from. Simple, Hard working, One who always have and will believe in me and my every act, who is and will always be there for me, who has supported me and given me everything I ever asked for in my life and et all.. I can keep writing an entire paragraph on my DAD.

Right from my childhood, apart from my mother, dad was the only other soul I used to go in my toddler days. I caught his collar when I was 1.5 months old with my fist, and at that day and very moment my dad realized my bonding and power over him. Right from the morning mom used to make me ready and my dad used to take me every single day to a new temple. Yes, every single day a new temple. How on earth in 1 city can you find different temples every day- yes, but that was something which my dad used to fulfill for me every single morning.

When I came in school and my middle school days, I remember my dad used to work 5 days a week and on weekends he used to do another part time job to fulfill the family needs for 5 people where he was the sole earner. In ever increasing inflation in India, my dad did lots of overtime just to fulfill all our needs that included not only education, but fees for extra classes and tuition outside the school, all the desires for eating out in restaurants, movies, dinners parties, vacations and what not a kid can ask for.

His only requirement out from this dedication was to see his kids get well educated and settle in their respective aspects of life. Apart from this, I have never seen him asking for any special requirements from kids and even my mother. I have never seen him complaining even if my mom forgot salt in her dishes, it was always later when we used to sit for lunch we realized that Dad actually ate this tasteless food without even mentioning a word about it this morning before he left for work. What a great quality of living without expectation!

Dad’s love

When time came for me to get married, I remember when I told him about Niket, and showed him the cute little teddy bear which Niket gave me as wedding proposal- all he said without even meeting Niket once was “I know this person is just like this Teddy bear, who will always love and care for you forever”- I learnt trusting your family was one of the greatest quality you can ever have- Give trust and you’ll receive love in return.

He was the one who inspired me to start writing about my passion of cooking, he was the one who gave me ideas on bringing out the talent of my mother and grandmother in cooking delicious recipes to the world. And today, i really appreciate my decision of following his right advise and making Jinie’s Kitchen a success in world of Social media.

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.