The Tale of Two Memories

In November 2006, we went to my wife's hometown, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. This place is located near Shibuya Station which was first introduced to me from my Navy days. I remember walking near Shibuya Station in the early 1990s with a Navy buddy and our dates looking for a place to put down stakes and call it a night.

At Shibuya Station, I saw the old bus stop where my wife would ride the bus with her sister as an elementary student. I also saw the first bank my wife had an account with and in its same place, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation was still there.

We also went to her kindergarten which was the same as it was in the pictures of her from back in the day. The old neighborhood was a walk down memory lane with my wife and mother-in-law saying natsukashii (dear, fondly, etc.) every other step. The walk by the old house was nice and the neighbor two houses up had a delivery and as the lady received her package, my mother-in-law recalled her from back in the day. The two of them talked for 5 minutes. Of course, the lady didn't recognize my wife since she was a toddler. My wife remembered the time when the lady's father (now deceased) would greet my wife in the morning, "Konbanwa" (which means "Good Evening") and in the evening, "Ohayou" (which means "Good Morning"). A thing that older Japanese men do. Kind of a "Oyaji Gag". Afterwards, we saw the bridge and fountain which was in its same condition from back in the day.

We found our way to Odaku Umegaoka Station and traveled to Shinjuku Station and eventually returned to Saitama.

Fast forward to August 2007, a mere eight months after this trip down memory lane. I was still jet lagged back in South Carolina and came back to a faded memory, and tried to connect to my boyhood experiences as a 34-year-old man. Taking a damn trip down memory lane when I should have been moving forward with making memories. I tried to be all things to all jobs that I applied for and paid for it dearly. People that have no interest in things outside their immediate geographic area could care less about a guy who has spent time in Japan and married to a foreigner.

A few months later, I ended up working in what my 4-year degree was in which was redemption in a way since I was working in my chosen field of study. This field of study was the “shortest bridge to cross” which allowed me to meet my goal of graduating before I turned 30 and ran out of GI Bill funding.

My wife, true to herself managed to find work using her Japanese ability in one of the most non-diverse places in the US. We are fortunate and at least ½ of the vision that I had imagined prior to the intercontinental move solidified that the move to South Carolina was not a mistake.

As it is often said, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. I’m glad to have the experiences in Japan as well as the past 23 months in the US as a part of me and back at the current place in time.

To all of those who are contempt with mediocrity, lack the guts to take a leap of faith, I leave you with this. Prolonging the inevitable will only make things worse later on. The right road is often the hard road but nobody owes me anything and better yet, I don’t owe them either.

Today's picture was taken outside of my wife's kindergarten. Little has not changed from the time that my wife attended there in the late 1970s.

Today's entry is a combination of two entries made in Japan and in the US before and after the current economic downturn. I like the rift between the two entries which signifies the bumpy road that we have traveled and have still managed to maintain our integrity and move forward with our plans and dreams.