matcha with me…

Today the kids and I spent the morning cleaning the apartment where we had been staying, packing, and returning borrowed items. In between I kept checking the news since the first news this morning was that of two strong earthquakes located very near the Fukushima reactors. Aftershocks are so common that most people have learned to just ignore them, but the location of these two had me and the newscasters a bit anxious for a while. Apparently there was no additional damage from these quakes, so then we hopped on the train for the trip back to Tokyo. (I’d considered taking the night bus to cut costs, but the prospect of 10 hours on a highway bus with only one toilet and two kids who get motion sickness scared me out of it.)

It was great to get home and see Tim again. He’d spent his day shopping, but not like you or I usually do. Today his task (he’s been volunteering at the CRASH office) was to buy $30,000 worth of supplies at COSTCO to send up north for the relief efforts! It’s amazing to see how people around the world have opened up their hearts so generously…and it is so necessary. Things will not get better overnight.

One statistic that stuck in my mind is this: As of this morning, nationwide there were 9,199 people declared dead and 13, 786 people still unaccounted for. However, the total loss of human life will be much greater. Take the situation of  the city of Rikuzentakada where 804 people were counted dead and 1700 missing. At present, 14,020 are in shelters, and virtually no one is in their own homes. However, the total population of the town is listed as 24,246 people…so where are the other 10,023 people in the town? (source: Jcast news, Rikuzentadaka, Terebiwatch, Asazuba, 13:18, 3/23) The only conclusion that can be reached is that these 10,023 people were washed away with their families, friends and relatives leaving no one to file a missing person report, no one to walk through the makeshift morgue hoping to find…hoping not to find…

I came back to a tidy house, a loving husband, and emails from long ago friends who write and pray across the miles. The nuclear reactors are certainly not under control yet, but I’m reminded once again  of the present Tim’s older sister Karen embroidered for us long ago: No matter what, no matter where, it’s always home if love is there.