おじいちゃん My grandfather

I woke up this morning to an email from my mom to my brother and me that our おじいちゃん, our grandfather, had just passed away. He was 87. His name was Yaginuma Seisaku, although I've called him おじいちゃん my whole life. It took a while to sink in, but by the time I got myself to work, I had decided that I had to be there for the funeral. I thought I had myself together, but the minute I saw my brother, tears swelled up.

I am most lucky, as Six Apart has been very understanding and helpful. I have a flight leaving tomorrow morning that will get me to Tokyo in time. And equally important is that I will be there for my mother.

I am also lucky that I can search my old TokyoTidbits and find entries of my grandparents and reunions. I am glad おじいちゃん is part of my blog life!

There is so much to say about おじいちゃん. He experienced Japan during a time of rapid change, the war, and the occupation. He and his siblings were raised by his mother only, which was a rare thing back in the day, and he was the eldest son, so he worked for the family and protected her. I remember him telling a story about how proud he was when he was able to afford a family plot at the cemetery. He was only 20 years old and it was quite an accomplishment for him to do that. By the end of his story, both he and I were in tears.

He was a rather traditional man, but when my dad came along and swept my mom off her feet, he accepted. Although we had met our grandparents as babies, my first recollection of meeting them was when I was 8. Both my grandfather and grandmother were most warming and welcoming, and even though we couldn't communicate to each other since I didn't speak Japanese yet, I felt close to them. He never made either Ian or I feel we were different.

I remember sitting around a table as Ian and I tried to teach him English words. We were eating celery and giggled over his attempts to pronounce the "l' and the "r". He laughed along and repeated it with glee.

I want to write down everything I remember of him so I can pass it on to my kids one day. I think I'll do that on the plane ride over.

This will be a difficult experience. Every time I've gone back to Tokyo, I've visited our family cemetery to say 'hi' to my ancestors. This will be the first time to go for a funeral so close to my heart.