Years Later, A Wave

Posted by J on Jun 1, 2013 in J Posts | 0 comments

When our Kyoto landlord asked W, H, and E this week about some of our trip traditions, they told him about what they have come to call “forced marches” — required journeys and hikes and walks through beauty or history or both.

Their description of the phrase got a big laugh … but the boys would be the first to admit that some of these forced marches have also been some of their trip highlights.

This week’s journey to Hiroshima is one of these highlights — for all of us. I wrote about the scattered emotions of the day in a post titled “Baseball in Hiroshima.” The experience from that city has stayed with me … and I pass along this second reflection:

Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park was overrun by Japanese school children during our visit. Wave after wave of chaperone-wrangled groups passed by our family in a wonderful jumble of Japanese-like order — school uniforms or colorful, matching hats on kids walking in single file or two-by-two … and the universal signs of field trip chaos — loud, irreverent chatter chatter chatter, groups of disinterested boys hanging back, and chaperones trying to keep a lid on the remnants of control.

It was fun to watch — and that’s how our visit to Memorial Park began … on a park bench, watching groups of children roll by. (The scene is pictured in the above panorama, with the preserved carcass of a building in the background.)

Our family conversation on that bench turned from people watching … to the atomic bomb … to war … to how war begins … to how war ends … to good, evil … to Presidents … to decisions … to life … to death … as we sipped bottled water and snacked on food S had packed in her backpack.

It was awesome — a small moment to discuss the past, present, and future … as a family … on a park bench … with snacks … without a schedule.

Seal that memory in gold.

Later — pictured in the second photograph, above — a Japanese school girl waves at my family sitting on another park bench. We’re all visiting the Peace Park on the same day to reflect on the catastrophic events of August 1945 … but we’re also living out our lives, now … together … in a wonderful mix of cultures past, present, and future.