1/2 + 1/2 = ?

Last night Erin Ai had a revelation! 

She had been working on her autobiography for school, and was asking us about the reason for naming her Erin.  (The reason for crossing out the name, is that I can't tell this story without revealing her real name!  Oh dear, I would never make a good spy, would I?)

By the 4th child, we were wondering how we could keep up our custom of having all of the children have one kanji in common.  But I also wanted a name that could fit both Japanese and English without being too foreign for relatives in both countries.  Ai knew that when we were expecting her we were beginning the preparations to build a house with a view from our lot of a woody hillside.  Then, too, my middle name is Lynn, and part of her actual name has a similar sound in it.  (To the Japanese ear, that is!)  But what she had to ask is which country is her name connected to, and why is that something I always tell her.

And when I told her, you could see from her expression what an impact it had on her.  An epiphany moment of sorts.  She was so surprised she even cried.  Imagine that.  What did she discover?

In Japan, a "Half" is a person who is not 100% Japanese.  Some people may think it's shortened from the word halfbreed, but I don't think that it is actually.  And it's not necessarily a put down, either, though there are people who don't like the term.  In fact, when I first encountered it with Megumi, I had heard from someone that they preferred saying "I'm not Half, I'm Double."  The idea being that bicultural children grow up with 2 cultures, languages, customs,  passports, etc, not 1/2 of them.  Then when Nozomi told me that one of her elementary classmated had called her a Half as though it was not a good thing, I assured her that her friend was also a Half.  Everybody is half of their mother and half of their father.  (I've always wondered how her friend liked my little explanation about that.)

Back to Ai's query.  Why do I always remind her that her name means Ireland?  Why do I tell people that all of the siblings names are Irish?  She's half Japanese and half American, right?  Right.  And the American part is a mixture of Irish, English and German, mostly Irish. 

INSTANT SHOCK !

She never realized until last night.  And she cried.  Her face was radiantly surprised, and after she wiped her tears, guess what she did?  She called her best friend, who.....

..... is also a Half.  And while on the phone, she could hear her friend asking her own mother if her Philippine half was only Philippine.  Her mother told her that there's some Spanish and German in the mix as well. 

1/2 + 1/2 = Double and a Lot More

*  Upon writing this, I re-read it, and I doubt anyone will understand it unless you know Japanese, English and the various ways of writing and pronouncing both languages.  Oh well, sorry about that if you don't get the marvel of this episode.

Grandma's Cancer - July Update

Was it back in February I first posted that my mom has cancer? The doctors told her it was stage four lung cancer, that she'd undergo radiation and chemotherapy to help her deal with pain and in perhaps 6-12 months call in hospice.

I have four younger sisters, so to keep track of who's who, I'll use the nicknames my late father used for us when we were growing up. #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5. Original, huh? (I'm #1 for those who don't already know that.)

Back to the update. As soon as #2 and #5 learned of Grandma's condition, they put their heads together to be sure that alternating weeks each of them would be able to take care of Grandma. Every Wednesday she would go for treatment, and then return to either #2's home/family for a week or her own home with #5 keeping daily watch on her reactions to the treatments. #4, along with two of her own four children and the girlfriend of one of those children, drove from one end of the state to the other to spend a week at #5's and spend time with Grandma.

The only thing #1 has been able to do is call weekly and have fun heart-to-heart chats with Grandma. I had been hoping to go in August and spend the month with Grandma (and my daughter Megumi, too, of course!), but unfortunately I will not be able to go afterall.

Sorry, back to the update! When all of this began, in fact, the only reason Grandma learned of the cancer at all, she felt a terrble pain in her left foot. Apparently, the cancer had spread throughout her body and the bones in her foot simply crumbled. They gave her a "boot," and she was able to keep mobile. She was also told that she would have to gain weight before beginning treatments. She tried to, but I'm not certain that she gained much. Anyway, treatments began.

While she lost all of her hair, she never suffered any nausea or pain at all! The chemo did tire her, but usually a day of rest was all she needed to feel like she could get up and do things she normally did. During the past month of phone calls, she kept telling me that her doctor said that the cancer was GONE! At least the cancer that had spread throughout her body. The growth in her lung, which is where they suppose the cancer originated, was half the size it initially was in February. She was given hope that she wouldn't have to return to the doctor for three whole months! False hope, that is.

At this point, she is stopping the radiation and the chemotherapy and is beginning a new treatment. #2 gave me the details (which I still might not be giving you correctly here*): Every three weeks Grandma will go in to receive a B 12 shot in her left arm (question for Grandma/doctor - why left? maybe because the cancer is in the left lung?), a bag of a new drug (question for Grandma/doctor - name of medicine?), and everyday she has to take one dose of folic acid (at the exact same time every day! Don't forget and don't take two!) This will continue for three months. Then the doctors will do more tests to see what's what.

So that's the way things are at the moment. One of the things Grandma said, "The bad thing about getting better is people don't come around and ask you how you're doing so much anymore." I had to laugh, but it added a poignancy to my own inability to get over the ocean to spend the summer with her. I was going to help her and #3 sort through her photos.

But it'll be okay. At least thus far our prayers that she not have to endure the pain have been answered. Thank you, Lord, for that.

*corrections from #2-5 are more than welcome!