Christmas, 1995; New Year, 1996

Dear Friends,

Looking back this year, we can see God’s love and care for us even at times of sadness and disaster. As usual we started the New Year of 1995 with joy and hope. At that time, we certainly did not expect to hear sad news soon. Ikuko’s aunt (her father’s sister) died suddenly after a brief illness on January 11. She had spent her entire life caring for her mother who had died just the year before at 101 years old. She had been single all her life, but loved our children very much. However, this pain was soon shifted when the big earthquake suddenly hit Kobe, in the western part of Japan, just 6 days later. In just a few minutes, it killed over 5000 people and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. The tragedy shook the entire nation, especially since a big quake was not expected in that region. As soon as the news of the extent of the tragedy got out, many forms of help poured into the area from all over. This tragedy made us all aware of how unprepared we are for earthquakes. Even in our block in Albany, an earthquake preparedness group was formed to organize a neighborhood response for disasters. The news of the earthquake was a lesson to all of us about how fragile our physical existence can be.

During the summer, Ikuko and the children went to Japan to stay with Ikuko’s parents. Rick joined them for his vacation and we traveled for a week. We visited the historic towns of Takayama and Kanazawa, then concluded the trip with a stay at the small fishing village of Ogi in the Noto Peninsula on the Japan Sea side. While the scenery was beautiful, we were most touched by the many kindnesses shown us by people in these rural areas. By the end of the trip, Noah definitely decided to stay in Japan for a semester, just as his sister had done 4 years previously. To our pleasant surprise, his grandparents agreed. This would not have been possible, had Ikuko’s mother not had both knees replaced, the second just months before our trip, relieving much of the pain she had had for years.

Although we missed Noah very much, it was a relief to know that he had nice teachers and friends who went out of their way to help him. Also, many friends here prayed for Noah and his grandparents. Noah says that he enjoyed his trip, but it must have been very hard for his grandparents to live with an energetic 9 year old boy. He usually stayed after school to play games with his friends to get out some of his energy. He also took Japanese calligraphy and violin lessons after school. However, it was often hard to understand his usual claim of having “no homework” from school each night.

In the fall, we had the pleasant surprise that Ikuko’s parents would accompany Noah on his return flight back here in December and stay 3 weeks with us. It had been over 10 years since they had visited us and we had never celebrated Christmas with them as a family. It was just sad to think that such a long trip would have been impossible if Ikuko’s aunt and grandmother were still alive in Tokyo.

Mina has been very busy with all the homework and reports in 8th grade, as well as all her work for Saturday Japanese school and piano study. In January, she bravely had her appendix removed. In the fall, for her required community service project, Mina helped a friend of ours who is disabled by cancer. We saw her giving side and her maturation as Mina reached out to help someone else, yet received much more in return. Ema enjoys 1st grade, but her passions are for playing with friends and sitting at her desk drawing. Ikuko and Rick are teaching Ema’s 1st grade Sunday School class and are jointly the church deacons from Albany parish. Ikuko is teaching in the Japanese school. In addition to his job as a pediatrician at the Kaiser-Permanente clinic in Antioch, Rick has taken on the added duties as the medical center DCCIS (Division Chief of Clinical Information Services), whatever that is. His hobby is now cabinet making as we remodel the bathroom and kitchen. The bathroom was finished enough to be usable on the day Ikuko’s parents arrived.

It is a blessing to have our family together, including Ikuko’s parents as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and the new year. Rick’s parents stayed in Michigan with his sister for this Christmas. Perhaps some year we can all get together. We are thankful that the Lord has blessed us with joy so abundantly in 1995. May the Lord also bless you and your family in the coming year. Please take good care of yourselves.

With love in Christ,

Rick, Ikuko, Mina, Noah & Ema Thomas