Days after Japan was struck by the country's most powerful earthquake in recorded history and the massive tsunami it unleashed, it's still what everyone is talking about. If you're like me, some of the video you've watched is unlike anything you've ever seen in your life. I've studied the power of water and have seen the permanent scars tsunamis and hurricane storm surges have left behind over the years, but I've never seen such massive amounts of water in action like that before. Watching entire communities being washed away in mere seconds and cars and huge ships being tossed like toys is not only chilling, but indescribable. Even the largest hurricanes and most powerful tornadoes on earth pale in comparison to the wrath of a tsunami of that size. Sadly, you can't help but think that anyone in it's path, didn't stand a chance.
God only knows how high the death toll will go, but it's likely to be in the tens of thousands. Hearing the heart wrenching stories of people who lost loved ones got me thinking of my mother-in-law, Teruko Suzuki. I was having dinner with my wife, Deborah, Saturday night and we talked about the awful events that took place in her mom's life one day back in the 1940s. We're not sure of the exact date or year because her mother didn't speak English very well and rarely talked about that day. Her account of the worst day of her life goes like this. One afternoon, she and her 9 brothers and sisters were outside playing in Yokohama, a coastal city about 45 minutes south of Tokyo. All of a sudden, the ground shook violently, but settled down just as quickly. Little did they know that an earthquake just offshore produced a tsunami headed directly for them. She describes a horrifying scene of the ocean waves rising up and rushing toward them. Before they could run away, the waves engulfed them, dragging all 10 siblings toward the ocean. Sadly, half of them were swept out to sea and never found. With a quivering voice, she recalls watching her brothers and sisters being "swallowed by the waves." I don't remember her being a very religious person, or at least not a vocal one, but she thought she was going to die too and recalled it was the one time she actually saw God. Years later, Deb's mom married her Dad, a Navy man, and they moved to America. They raised 3 children who all married and are scattered across the United States. Unfortunately, Deb's mom passed away in 1995. Two of the remaining brothers and sisters still live in Yokohama and made it through the recent earthquake and tsunami unscathed. The other two left Japan and now live in Hawaii.
Each year, we send Deb's remaining aunts and uncles a Christmas card and I honestly never gave it much thought. Recalling that story and seeing what's transpiring in Japan today has me thinking of them more than ever before. Surely the images of Friday's tsunami is stirring memories of a time they'd just as soon forget. We're coming up on our 20th wedding anniversary and were planning a trip to Japan to meet her Mom's family for the first time. For now, that's been put on hold and we're not sure what we'll do, but we'll keep the faith that someday we'll be able to make that trip. In the meantime, we'll certainly keep her family and all those in Japan in our prayers.
