Both sides of the ocean

Yesterday I experienced a first: I saw both of my grandmothers in the same day. This has never, ever happened. It is really a bigger deal than it sounds because...

One of my grandmothers lives in Japan, and she has never, ever been to the United States before. Until yesterday. My mother was visiting her and brought her back for her first-ever visit to America at the age of 86. Dad and I met them at the airport. Tears welled in my eyes when I first beheld my grandmother standing on American soil (American escalator stairs, to be precise, but whatever). I'd been reviewing Japanese the past few weeks in the hope of communicating with her at least a little, for she doesn't speak a word of English. I was afraid all the Japanese I'd studied would retreat at the crucial moment. However, to my relief I did manage to speak quite a few sentences (albeit broken and grammatically flawed) in my grandmother's native language. And that afternoon, once we had settled the weary overseas travelers at home, Dad and I went to visit my other grandmother, who lives here in Austin. Both grandmothers in one day! Truly a singular event.

Yet I am waiting, as I have been for a month with great anticipation, for an even more singular event: the meeting of the two grandmothers. I hope to witness this, for I couldn't have dreamed it would ever happen. I'll be there with my camera and my eyes as wide as they will open, anxious to capture the reactions on their faces, the faces of both my parents' mothers who will stand in the same room together for the very first time.