After nine years, our first visitor to Hawaii was Tomoko Ino and her sons. Many of you may remember Tomoko. We met when she came to America at 15 years old as an exchange student. It was another one of those times when we were in the right place at the right time. She stayed 3 weeks that first visit and we became family. She called us Mom and Dad and we called her our Japanese daughter. She visited several times after that, even joining us in Florida in 2000 when we took the family to Disney World. The last time we saw her was the summer of 2001. After 911, her new husband didn't want her to travel to the U.S. It was too dangerous.
We have known her now for 18 years. Now that we are in Hawaii, travel for her is so much easier and she asked her travel agent (a former student of hers) to watch for a travel deal she could work around. She e-mailed us the middle of August, just before Amy went back to school, that she could come from the 20th to the 30th of August and would that be okay. Of course! We were thrilled that she would come to see us so soon after our move. She told us she would be bringing her two boys. What a treat for us. Their names are Reima and Ryoma.
When she arrived, she announced that she was pregnant. Three children in Japan is a big family. We are very happy for her. She is hoping for a girl this time. We met her adorable boys. They warmed up to us quickly and when we asked her what she wanted them to call us, she said 'grandma' and 'grandpa'. We were hoping she would say that!
She stayed with us for most of the time, staying at a local resort for a couple of days so her boys could enjoy the amenities there. We did lots of shopping, went to the beach, went to the zoo and the famous Big Island Candies company, and took the boys snorkeling. Bruce had a great time playing grandpa. She cooked for us twice and brought our favorite goodies from Japan.
Saying goodbye was just has hard this time as it was every other time she visited. We would really like to go to Japan and see her. Her invitation was very gracious and if we get the house done next year, we may just have to plan a trip there. The idea of an eight hour flight seems so much easier to take than 14 hours.
We miss her already.
