Late Letters

We spent the afternoon driving up to L.A. from San Diego, enjoying the view of the city as we climbed the hills higher and higher to great Aunt Ruth's home.  She showed us her garden with avocado, apple, persimmon, and orange trees, and after another dinner of Japanese food, this time with a gentle, "arigato," instead of a harsh, "irasshaimase," Aunt Ruth remembered a visit from a Japanese man who worked with her husband during the 60s.  This opened memory inspired in her the idea to write the gentleman a card which she is giving me to send by mail once I return to Japan.  She brought to the kitchen table the gentleman's business card, unused for 30 or 40 years, and after dictating a thoughtful and poetic note to her daughter, I wrote the company address and the gentleman's name on the front of the envelope.  How quickly does Tokyo change?  I wonder if the company is still there, if he has any connection to it anymore, if the postal service will be able to do anything to bridge whatever gaps there are between these two people and their pasts.  I hope that her words and dragonfly stationary will make it to the hands of Seiichi Tanaka, a Japanese generation away from today's L.A.