Keeping the Dream

Yesterday I went to Washington, D.C. for the Cherry Blossom Parade. Actually spent more time at the Japan Culture Festival, a couple museums and memorials.

It was so strange to walk by the stands and even more strange to hear the vendors speaking in Japanese. I remember so many years ago, the summer fairs in Japan, when I was just a little girl.

I knew this weekend would be more than just sharing an adventure with a good friend and my little daughter. I knew there would be sounds and smells and sights that would bring me back to the days of childhood, to the time when I shared a world more predominated by my mother, her world and her influence, than my father’s. I remember very little of my father, when we lived in Japan.

I remember mostly my mother and all the culture associated with her.

There’s a lot to process, to sit with. Perhaps tonight, when my daughter is at her dad’s, I will make a cup of green tea and let myself go back.