HomeAgainAndAncientMemoriesOfJapan

Another 30 hour trip home and trying to get back into a regular sleep cycle, I gave in and started watching TV, waiting for sleep. The TV was on CNN and there unbelievably was live coverage of the tsunami hitting Japan. I watched helplessly as in real time, an entire city was erased. Now I can't seem to stop watching the CNN coverage and it is bringing back memories of when my family lived in Japan a lifetime ago. We couldn't find Army housing, so we lived for a time in a genuine Japanese home in a mountain village where we were the first foreigners any of the locals had seen. The 2 years there are some of the best memories of my childhood. Everyone was incredibly gracious and accepting of us, despite the fact that my Brother and I were wild hellions let lose on the world. I remember the gentleness and kindness and the days of exploring the beautiful and exotic bamboo forests with the local kids. We lived in Yokahama, not one of the areas destroyed by the tsunami, but the memories of living there have made the losses in Japan seem more personal. I watch the grace and strength of the people trying to recover from unspeakable devastation and wish that I could be there. The faces I see on CNN become the faces of those who showed two American kids so much kindness. Now It's my turn....