"japan is one parent, and america the other parent"

brock is in japan on this 4th of july. this is the 20th 4th of july of our marriage, and for at least 13 of those, one or both of us has been in japan....a strange tradition for an american holiday. i woke up to pouring rain, and thought - no! not on the 4th of july! but a more comforting thought followed - little man's t-ball game will be cancelled, and the older girls and i won't have to juggle the question of who will watch the shop, who will work the t-ball concession stand, and who will watch the game and the little ones.

baby man sleeping in his jinbei on my 4th of july pillow (see it in the previous post), 4 july's ago in maihama.

when brock is in japan, we all wax more nostalgic for everything japanese. impossible to believe it's been over 2 years now since we left, and i have found myself wondering this week for the first time since that move, if and when we will ever move back again. last night i was up late talking with my oldest girls (who spent the vast majority of their lives in japan - all of our children have, except grace). tashi was saying how she hated it when people asked her which she liked better, japan or the u.s.... so of course i had to ask....i had to know! she gave me an icy look. but eventually admitted that she didn't know which she liked better.....she liked both countries in different ways. we all agreed. then lexi asked if i had read her facebook status from a few days ago. i hadn't. i am not making time for facebook of late. she asked me to come over to the computer and read it. too tired, i asked her to read it aloud. no! that would be weird!.... according to her.  eventually i  made my way to the computer on my way to bed, and this is what i read:

"Japan is one parent, and America the other parent for me. So I hate it when people ask me which one I like better, because that's like asking me which parent I like better. Both are part of who I am. So being away from Japan this long...it feels like I'm missing a parent. And it makes it 100 times worse when my dad IS actually in Japan for 10 days right now. I wish I could combine the 2 countries together sometimes."

....after posting this, it occurred to me how this statement much, much truer for our japanese children.....

miss mia, that same july, 4 years ago....notice lexi's lexi's sequined, high heeled flip flops on mia's feet - just as japanese as her yukata and her sweet little face.

Comments

[maika]

today i saw Brother Stout at kasai ward. i naturally looked for you and your family around him, just like i used to when you were here. i miss you and your family.

[gina russon]

Happy 4th to you too Julie!
I thought brock was going to be back by now. I miss you guys and wish I could be your apprentice quilter and work in your shop. My RS president is obsessed with quilts and quilting and she will be in Nauvoo this month. She will be going to the pageant also. I told her to go to your shop, and she said she would. She said she would LOVE to.