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Subject: [FOLKLORE FAMILY] 45 Years and 6,000 Miles Apart
Date: Sun, 13 Oct 2002 16:29:56 EDT

45 Years and 6,000 Miles Apart
By L. J. Wardell

It was a difficult time in Japan. It was a time near
the end of the American occupation of Japan that followed
World War II. My mother, the oldest of three siblings,
gave up a rare opportunity to go to college so that she
could work two jobs and support her family after her father
fell ill and couldn't work. Her mother had already died
when she was only twelve years old. She was not only the
sole source of income but also a sister and mother to two
little girls. Amidst all of this hardship she fell in love
with an American soldier. With a mind filled with hope and
determination she left war-torn Japan for the bounty of
America with the dreams of being better able to provide for
her family and in particular, a better life for her two
little sisters.
Life in America didn't turn out so well for my mother.
The man she married turned out to be a severe alcoholic.
Her survival and determination to provide for her own
children rivals any challenge she could have faced in her
homeland. With constant pressure, her dreams moved from
hope to long days of labor. Years went by and she never
wrote home. More years passed and she became afraid to
write. She wouldn't be able to bear the news of anything
ill becoming of the two little sisters she left behind.
She couldn't bear to tell them that anything less than good
had become of her life.
I had always wondered about the relatives that I must
have in Japan and as my mother never spoke of them, it
created an empty space in my life. I assumed it was
painful for her to bring up the past so I respectfully
thought it was better not to ask. It took a long time, but
finally I had the chance to go to Japan for a three-month
project. Would I be willing to open the Pandora's box
sealed by my mother silence? I told my story to a charming
Japanese family that had befriended me. They sensed my
need to know about the relatives that were missing from my
life. My new friends took on the quest of finding my lost
relatives for me as it would be too difficult for me as a
foreigner to do it alone.
My time in Japan was passing quickly without news, but
the hope of meeting at least one of my relatives never
faded away. Two days before I was to depart Japan, Yokiyo
phoned me and exclaimed, "I've found them!" Of course I
was thrilled but had to ask, "Were they happy about it?"
My mother had feared that maybe they had buried their
emotions for her and didn't need a wound reopened. Yokiyo
explained to me how the first aunt she spoke to immediately
broke into tears, unable to speak with the joy of knowing
her lost sister was still alive. My aunts were on the bus
from Tokyo the very next day to meet me. They hugged me
and were moved by the few characteristics I bore of my
mother. They told me a day hadn't passed that they didn't
think of her. They had a strong need for closure and I
promised to bring their sister to them.
My sixty-eight-year old mother, after having out
survived her husband, became a reclusive little old lady.
We both knew the trip would be difficult for her but she
told me she swore to her sisters over the phone that she
would swim to Japan if she had to. I told my mother that I
would take her in the spring, giving us six months to
prepare and save up for the trip of a lifetime. Her heart
started to fill with childhood memories and she began to
tell stories about her past. Both of her sisters started
to call her every weekend to make sure the plans were on
schedule. My mother was excited but nervous as she
emphasized it had been forty-five years without any contact
with her sisters so in reality, these women were total
strangers to her.
On the plane ride to Tokyo, mom confessed it was
exactly forty-five years to the month that she last saw
Japan. As the sea of lights came into view her face was
pressed against the window. She remembered a sea of lights
fading away forty-five years ago, thinking that would be
her very last view of her homeland. I silently watched her
fight back the tears.
In Narita airport, my mother eyed her sisters in the
crowd and snuck up on them in a jovial way. The sisters
wanted to laugh at her prank but broke into tears at
finally being united with their long lost sister. Too
emotional to speak, the three of them mostly looked to each
other on the train ride to Tokyo. At Aiko's house, over a
cup of green tea the women begin to talk.
Our week in Tokyo passed quickly. The two women
ushered us around like two mother hens, taking us sight
seeing and feeding us every delicacy they could think of.
It didn't take long until the three sisters acted like
sisters again, teasing each other, laughing, and talking
late every night. The atmosphere filled up with a
priceless joy that fed everyone's heart. You couldn't tell
that they had spent the last 45 years apart. I took lots
of photographs of the three sisters sitting in the park,
singing childhood songs, cooking together.
I witnessed how their love for each other erased the
45 years they had lost. Every moment together was precious
for them, as we all knew this could be the last time these
sisters would be together. What was important was they
were sisters again, sisters forever. They had proved that




.·:*´¨`*:·..·:*´¨`*:·.
*: * Richiele * *
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