For the two weeks we were in Tokyo, we were a six-minute walk to Takadanobaba Station on the Yamanote line in Shinjuku. It was a nice four-bedroom home across from the PEN Parking Lot near the 7-11

The theme of going home stretches back to the epic tale of Ulysses and extends to modern writers such as Thomas Wolfe and Joan Didion. I have often thought about what home is and where it is for me. I have lived in Japan three times, as a baby, an adolescent, and an adult. Is that home? I graduated from university in California. Is that home? I have lived and worked in several states in the US. I moved to Thailand and then to Saudi Arabia. I lived longer in Saudi Arabia than in any other place in my life. Is that home? I retired to Eugene, Oregon, and lived in one house for almost ten years. Is that home? I returned to live in Bangkok this year and plan on buying my last home and dying in Canada. Is that going to be home?

Japan captured my soul. I became a human, for the first time, seeing beyond my own needs. Still a self-centered teenager, I learned to read, write, think, love, and cry for others. I learned lessons that shaped my personality and growth. Could this be home? I have returned several times while studying the history, culture, and language.

This trip to Japan may be my last, but I wanted to explore it with my brothers and sister. I wanted to experience their reactions to what was once our home. Is home just a physical place or a state of mind? Do our memories match the realities of our experiences we collectively had there? Our perception through adolescent eyes differs from what we will find with our older, more subjective consciousness. I don’t want to destroy nostalgia, but I hope that we can learn, laugh, and find closure in our lives in Japan.

This section of the webpage is dedicated to our little brother Killian, who died in a tragic hammer accident when he was still a baby. We wish he was still with us.