Mom at Kamakura, 1962

Today has been quite a day for people in Japan and those with family or friends there. It seems like no one has been untouched by the tragic events there, myself included.

So when I finally received a moment of peace after my three kids went to sleep, I manically searched my mom’s old slides for photos of Sendai. I couldn’t locate any.

But I found this peaceful slide of my mom (second from the left) when she was 20 and touring Japan with a group of college students, led by a former US Navy civilian.

I’m pretty sure they’re at Kamakura, home of this famous outdoor Buddha.

In an ironic twist, this Buddha had been housed inside a temple until the 15th century. Then a tsunami washed the temple away. The Buddha has been outdoors ever since (I visited it on New Year’s Day 20 years ago).