Over half a century ago, in 1972, when David and I left my home country to come to the U.S.A. as young newly-weds, it cost a lot of money to communicate by telephone with my family, who lived half-way around the world in Japan. The longer we talked, the more we could almost hear the telephone company saying, “cha-ching, cha-ching!”
The least-expensive, and quite affordable, method of communication was via letters. So, naturally, for the most part, that was our choice. I remember David showing me his mom’s letters with her unique handwriting. She was so very excited for our marriage. And she wrote often. We both cherished her letters. Who knew back then that, at some point in the future, hand-written letters would become a thing of the past for the most part, a rare item to be treasured?
Recently, I asked David if we still had those letters from her. Very unfortunately, it appears that, at some point when we moved from Wisconsin to Michigan, they might have been discarded.
It is unthinkable to me, however, that we could have done so. If this were truly the case, shame on us… I wish I had the foresight to make sure to keep them — in the safe where I can find them easily. Hopefully, we can still find them at some point in the near future. I would love to be able to see her handwriting, again, to feel close to her; to feel her love; to know that everything will be all right, no matter what happens.
She was the sweetest lady, who had accepted me just the way I was. From the very beginning, she let me call her, “Mom.” She was the best mother-in-law I could have ever asked for. She was only 51 years old when she died. Nearly half a century later, I still think of her often, and miss her very much…
Fast forward to today, in 2025, both David’s and my parents have long been gone.
My only sibling, a brother, has remained single all of his life — for a very good reason, which has been addressed in my book. He and I seem to have established a routine for staying in touch with each other. Thanks to satellite technology, we are able to do Facetime anytime we choose — for free. How amazing is that!?
Each year, typically, he and I talk three times a year: in April for David’s and my birthdays; in June for my brother’s birthday — which is what we just did yesterday; and in January to celebrate the new year. Each time, we seem to end up talking for between 2-3 hours!
Unlike when we were kids, when each of us had our own set of friends, today, we truly appreciate the time to talk with each other — about anything and everything. Because he knows that David is sitting near me, he always makes every effort to talk in English so that he can understand what’s being discussed, too; it’s so sweet of him!
No matter how old I get, I always cherish being my brother’s “little sister.”
