My friend Isabelle has been staying with us since Thursday. We've known each other since 1991, when we met briefly as trainee mission partners at the Selly Oak colleges in Birmingham. I was impressed by her observations in class, which were always interesting and to the point, but we had very little actual contact during the few weeks we were both there before I went off to Japan and she later to Kenya. It was only several years afterward that I joined an email list discussing women's ordination and noticed a number of interesting, to-the-point posts from an "Isabelle in Nairobi." On the offchance, I emailed her privately - and yes, it was the same person, and she was happy to hear from me!
Since then we've stayed in close touch by email, telephone, and face-to-face. I've left the mission society altogether, and she is no longer a missionary full-time - she has a challenging job with the European Commission in Brussels - but amazingly our friendship is deep-rooted enough to have outlasted all the changes in both our lives. She visits us yearly in Japan, and is now a well-loved godmother to Dan and an honorary member of our family. We've visited her in Brussels too, and hope to go back there again in future. She's one of the few people from life before marriage and children for whom our friendship has not only been maintained but actually deepened, and that's something very precious.
On Saturday she and I took the boys to the prefectural farm in the hills to the north of Osaka. They had a ball - feeding cows and sheep (almost getting trampled by some rather aggressive ewes at times!), seeing pigs and goats, lambs and rabbits, ducks and peacocks, and even trying their hands at milking. There were bumper cars, a little train ride, and a bouncy castle. We came across frogs and beetles, irises and violets, swallows and sparrows, in what was a perfect outing for early summer.
Isabelle is leaving tomorrow. We'll miss her, and are looking forward to the next time we meet. Whether it's in Japan, Brussels, or England, it's sure to be special.
1 comment:
Oh, Claire, what a lovely time it has been! Thank you for these precious days.
Dan put it so well, the very first morning, when he came in and greeted me :
a child’s morning hug --
I have not yet finished
living!
It has been a joy, waking up each morning :
early sunlight
waking to the sight and scent
of a tatami room
And thank you for the memories of our farm excursion :
green mottled frog --
a boy’s hands stretch out
to grab and lose it
A beautiful relaxed time of togetherness, in the midst of plenty of work.
Big thanks! Isabelle.
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