For
"The best way we can honor people who we've lost is how we act in their memory and in their honor," Anderson, 63, told
He and his wife Jean are honoring Taylor the best way they can by inspiring the joy of reading in children in Miyagi Prefecture's Ishinomaki, where she worked as an assistant language teacher as part of the Japan Exchange and Training Program, known as JET, from 2008 until her death.
A fund set up in
Now incorporated as a Japanese nonprofit organization, the
Since the first was established in
The project involves donating books, including those that Taylor loved as a child, or book vouchers as well as bookshelves.
The wooden bookshelves are all built by carpenter
Taylor immersed herself deeply in the Japanese language and culture and read the books of famous Japanese author
With her interest in
She eventually entered the JET program which led her to "living her dream," her friends and family say.
"That was the only thing she was going to do. She didn't apply for any other jobs," her father recalled. Although they would have preferred to keep her at home, he added, "If it's their dream, and it's going to make them happy, then, you know, that's what they need to do."
Taylor was planning to return home in
However, on
In Miyagi, one of the three hardest-hit prefectures in the northeast, Ishinomaki lost the most people with estimates saying more than 3,000 people were killed in the disaster, local government data shows.
Taylor was the first confirmed American fatality.
Anderson recalls the kind of daughter she was. "She liked to treat others like she'd like to be treated. She's a really good friend," and in the words of her boyfriend was a "ray of sunshine."
At the last Christmas they spent together in 2010, he recounted that Taylor presented her younger sister with a written promise of an airline ticket to
Having visited almost every year since 2011,
Through friendships formed via fund projects and the creation of a documentary of her life titled "Live Your Dream: The Taylor Anderson Story," the Andersons themselves have come to embrace
"She certainly shared that love (for
Having accepted the reality early on when he visited Ishinomaki in 2011 after being notified of her death, Andy said for every visit he has made since he is thankful for being reminded of how much Taylor continues to be loved.
It makes him all the more determined to carry on the legacy of his daughter who wanted to help her students explore the world and achieve their dreams.
"It feels good because, you know, her life meant something to a lot of people," he said.
Plans are in the works for a monument to be erected in her honor in a newly built park in Ishinomaki, possibly to be unveiled in June. Reflecting
"We would be honored if the city would allow Taylor to be remembered in this way," Andy said.
==Kyodo
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