A Year in June: Chapter 4

             When June received funding for her project in Japan she felt like she had won the who-is-doing-the-coolest-thing-after-graduation lottery. For the few months between receiving the yearlong funding and arriving in Japan she was able to tell her friends, family, and one time only acquaintances all about her project. She was given several thousand dollars to travel to a country that had undergone one of the worst earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis in recorded history. A studio art and photography major in college, she was not going to be helping out physically. It wasn’t that June didn’t have the physical strength, as the daughter of a college level gymnast and high school level wrestler she had muscle strength. However, she rarely did manual labor and was more inclined to flex her right brain.

In Japan she wanted to restore what people had lost that was less tangible than a house or a business. She would comb destroyed houses, abandoned lots, and side streets for irreplaceable memories—photographs carried astray by the waves of the tsunami. After restoring these water damaged memories she would return them to their rightful owner in return for nothing more than gratitude. She felt certain that mementos of a happier time build the foundation for happier times to come.

When she told people of her project in a few succinct words “next year I’ll be restoring the damaged photographs of tsunami victims in Japan” she was always guaranteed the admiration and attention of those around her.

“Wow, what an unique experience”

“That’s so cool; and it’s paid for?”

“I’ve always wanted to go to Japan”

No one asked her what she would be doing after that year. She would not have been able to answer that question with any confidence anyway, so it was better for her that no one asked. Still, her parents worried and, secretly, she worried. But, determined to soak up all the experience she could and just live in the moment, she banished all thoughts of the future from her mind from the moment she set foot in Narita Airport.

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