We Are Headed For Japan

We made the decision last fall, on the drive home after spending Thanksgiving with my sister and her family.

We had just dropped my dad off at his house where he was still living on his own at the time, but it had become obvious by then that he needed to move into an assisted living facility.

Our dream vacation for my wife and I had been to visit Japan with Kai, so he could see the country where his mother was born and raised, and visit his grandparents in their homeland.

We had been waiting to go until Kai was old enough to appreciate and remember the trip, but also until he was able to cope with things better.

But on that drive home after Thanksgiving, my wife and I were contemplative. Her parents are still very sharp of mind and very healthy. But seeing my dad’s decline reminded us both that we should not take anything for granted.

And so we decided that the three of us would make the big pilgrimage this summer to visit them and to travel around my wife’s home country. Better to go now, a few years too early in terms of Kai’s readiness, perhaps, than to wait and have regrets later.

As we drove home that day, my wife asked if I wanted to invite my sister and her family to join us. The more I thought about it, the more excited I was about the idea of all of us having this momentous adventure together.

It was also an ideal time for them, in some ways. Both of their kids, my nephews, would have finished college but not be so far along in careers or relationships that would get in the way of making this journey. The only question in our minds was whether the boys would want to go; would they want to travel with us old folks?

The answer, it turned out, is yes. Apparently it took them all of a few seconds to say yes when my sister and brother-in-law posed the question.

“What would make you think that we wouldn’t want to go?” one of them asked us later.

And so, we will soon be on our way to Japan.

It is an exciting time, yes. But as the trip has drawn near, our most prevalent feeling has not been excitement. It has been stress.

More on that in my next post.