Recently an old friend told the story of a bitter memory of her childhood, about how she lost her father in the bombing of a Japanese factory during World War II. In spite of that, she has somehow been able to be friends with me, an American. Although I have no direct relatives in my family who fought against Japan in World War II (my parents were both baby boomers), I am sure there have been many times that I have been a reminder to her of her loss. Somehow, she has been able to forgive an entire nation, to look past my nationality to see me directly and embrace me as a friend. She has never shown me anger and hate. It was a most humbling experience to hear her story, and I am glad that she entrusted it to me. I got to thinking about where I am in my own life, and I realized that I had grown past the need for the former content of this site to be associated with my name in the WhoIs directory.
When I was a young child, I read a story named "Sadako and the 1000 Cranes". I was always brought to tears by the story, and find that the story still has the power to make me cry for the little girl who wanted to live. Even though the story had the power to affect me deeply, it always seemed so distant, being that I was born so far removed from the time of the events of World War II that we children had to learn about in the history books. After hearing my friend's story, I realize that my life has been shaped by the events of the 1940's more than I knew. Many of my older friends growing up had lived through at least one of the great Wars, and several I had the privilege of knowing had lived through both great Wars, and they shared their experiences with me and shaped me. My great-grandparents and grandparents instilled in my parents their experiences, their senses of morality and ethics which my parents then imparted to me and which has shaped my life.
Coming full circle with Sadako's story, this website will now represent a more peaceful and forgiving message. I hope you will take some time from your busy schedule, visitor, to print out the instructions on how to fold a paper crane. May peace come to you if you fold 1000 of them, like Sadako wished. I have also included a link to the children's story if you've never read it, and a song from one of my favorite bands which was inspired by Sadako's story, which helped me to find peace. I hope it touches your heart, as both Sadako's story and my beloved friend's touched mine.
