Kyoto Japan 1978
On my last night with this beautiful family who’d treated me so well, Mamii invited me into her father’s study. He presented me with a scroll painted with the word Peace. Then Mr. Kono told me that his daughter and I must forgive one another. His family was killed in Hiroshima and he could not forgive me.
The entirety of my stay, I never knew my presence was causing dear Mr. Kono such anguish.
I share this story with my students, because it is dear to my heart as much as it is anguish to my heart. It is a critical peace of American history. It is my history; it was the day I learned that I carried the burdens of America's past.
But time and wounds heal. Today when I was looking for a photo of my stay with the Kono family, I also found a letter from Mamii Kono, another letter from her mother, both put away and silenced for thirty-two years. Mamii wrote, “In spite of so short time, all of my family came to love you so much."
I let go of the hurt, realizing it was love that allowed Mr. Kono to share the deepest expression of sorrow. And in time, I hope his love allowed him to forgive me--just an 18-year old American girl, and her country, pulled into a war we didn't want, responding to cruelty with cruelty--desperately trying to end the chaos of war.
Comments