2002 – The Year in Review
It's funny, looking back on this year I know a lot has happened - it always does - but I am having trouble putting it into any particular focus (with the exception of our family trip to Japan, which was a singular event smack dab in the middle of summer). I suppose 2002 was what you might call a rebuilding year.
A rebuilding year in a few quite literal ways: we re-sided the house, finished renovating our upstairs, painted the rooms on the first and second floors - and Paul and Mayumi got their own rooms! Mayumi took our old room and before we could even get moved out put a sign on the door that said "No boys allowed" (needless to say, that made things a bit problematic for me). And, yes, the doll border around the top of the living room which has been here since we moved in, is now gone (though I keep imagining that those little knobby headed stenciled figures will have mysteriously reappeared through the new coat when I awake one morning).
It was a rebuilding year in our community and in our city, as well. We finally put a year between where we are and the pain of 9/11 (the same pain that I found made it impossible to write this letter last year. I did eventually end up writing that "lost" Christmas letter with my recollections of that experience and I have since posted it in the "Archive"). Rebuilding started at Ground Zero as the last of the debris was hauled away in September. This is something that I could never have imagined as I looked at the charred remains of the first 10 floors of the towers among the wreckage last year. But there it was at the one year memorial: a huge empty hole in the ground. And there is still that corresponding hole in the sky, with the view of skyline I see every day coming and going still strange to me. The hole in the heart and soul of the city, though, feels like it is starting to mend.
Even our trip to Japan was a rebuilding - of ties with family and friends there and, for the kids, with a part of their culture and identity that they year-by-year seem to have a harder time holding on to. The trip struck a good balance between seeing some of the country and hanging out with friends and relatives. We spent a bit of time in Osaka, touring Osaka castle (a 17th century anachronism in the middle of the city) as well as the busy downtown shopping area where people had thrown themselves off a bridge into a river to celebrate Japan’s World Cup victories (very 21st century). Then we headed to Sugayo's parents' house in the southern part of Honshu. The kids enjoyed spending time with their Obachan and Ojichan and aunts, uncles, and cousins. We also took a few day trips: up the side of nearby mountain to catch the stunning view of the delta area where most of the world's pearls are cultured, to a local aquarium (where we got to know some of the jellyfish), and to the National Ninja museum where Paul and Mayumi learned the ways of the Ninja (and where we discovered that most dread of all Ninja, the "Hello Kitty Ninja"). We also got to a hot spring resort (with amazing seafood) and an amusement park (Spanish themed, in the middle of the Japanese country side!) where Paul and Mayumi rode their first big roller coasters. We also - as always - got to eat some really great food.
What do the kids most remember about the trip (aside from all the snacks during the many train rides)? Playing with the kids in Sugayo's parents’ neighborhood: soccer, crayfish hunting, and lighting fireworks with them almost every night. Isn't it amazing? I was concerned that they go to Japan to understand and appreciate the uniqueness of the culture, the differences - and they found in playing with those kids, instead, the things they all have in common: the desire to live, love, and laugh together.
As we look over our world ripped apart by war and the threat of war, wouldn’t it be amazing if we adults could find the same common ground? This holiday season, here's wishing you a heart filled with God's love and peace, the joy of life and laughter, and the desire to share it all with others
