A NEAT PARALLEL
Our new "Five In a Row" story for the week is Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say. I loved this book as I read it for the first time today, mostly because I could relate to it in so many ways. The book tells a story of the boy's grandfather, who grew up in Japan, but visited America and fell in love with it, especially California. He later returns to Japan, gets married and moves back to California, but is always somewhat homesick for his homeland. Eventually, he moves back to Japan, and because of WW2, never gets the chance to visit America again, which he always longed for. The boy grows up, and visits America himself, and falls in love with it, just like his grandfather.
I love this quote on the last page because it sums it up so well... "But I also miss the mountains and rivers of my childhood. I miss my old friends. So I return now and then when I cannot still the longing in my heart. The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other."
That last line sums my heart up well. I love Montana. I love the wide open spaces, the majestic mountains and all the creatures that live here. I love the pace of life out here. I love the simplicity of it all. I love being so close to so many amazing features that our country has to offer -- Yellowstone, Glacier, etc. I love all the new friends we've had the opportunity to meet.
The problem is, I miss home, too. I miss Lake Michigan and all the sunsets I've watched go down over that lake. I miss white sand beaches (and believe me, compared to what we have out here, they are WHITE sand beaches!) Of course I miss our family and all the traditions I had growing up. I miss my old friends...
The funny thing is, when I travel home, even for a visit, I am homesick for Montana. But when I'm in Montana, I am always somewhat homesick for Michigan. Oh, could I ever relate to this story!
4 comments:
Though we didn't live there very long, I can sort of relate with how I feel about Australia. I was just about to post some thoughts on that, actually, since we are coming up on our 3 year anniversary of coming home. And you know what's funny? I was going to mention how I miss the incredible Pacific beaches there... yet we have the beaches (though I'm not sure about white sand, compared to Australia :) ) that YOU miss right here (almost) in our backyard! :)
I know they can't really be called "white sand" beaches in MI, but it was really funny when we went to get a load of "sand" for our kids' sandbox out here, I thought they gave us the wrong thing when Evan came home with this "gray dirt"! :) I couldn't believe they called that sand! I can see where you miss the Pacific beaches. I only experienced that once in CA, but they were beautiful!
I haven't even been to the "white sand" beaches on the Atlantic yet, only half hour or so from our home, yet I too miss the Lk.MI shore.
God put so many great things in this world that we want to enjoy them all at once - guess that is what heaven will be like!
You know, this is very insightful. I only spent 2 weeks in England, yet every time I see something about England come on TV or read about it in a random article, it's like my heart skips a beat or something. It's a very precious place to me and I truly do long for it like it's a homeland. Good thoughts, Terri. I love your graceful posts. :)
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