２月２０日（火曜日）２０２４
家の食材と日本へのお土産を買いに今回初めて、レンタカーで外出しました。今回も予約しておいた車がないという理由で一回り大きい日産SUVを使うことに。大きな人が前に使っていたらしく座席調整は必至。運転は嫌いではないけれど他所の車を傷つけては大変と慎重な滑り出しで出発しました。
三箇所目の大きなスーパーマーケットで探し物をしていると、どこからか私を呼ぶ声。滅多に来ないスーパーでしかもここはアメリカ。知り合いがいるはずなどないのに、あれっ？と思って見ると、そこにアメリカ人の男性と女性が私を見てました。一瞬誰かしらと思ったけれど、すぐにそれは私がH大学で仕事をしていた時に少しの間日本語のチューターをしていたPさんと奥様のKさんだと分かりました。びっくりしたの何のって！！Pさんは当時すでに日本語はかなり出来て日本で勤務が決まっていたのでブラッシュアップのつもりで私が話し相手になるといった感じでした。しばらくして婚約者のKさんを紹介されお友達に。すぐに二人は結婚して東京に数年。私たちの結婚式にも来てくださいました。
ボストンでは娘が生まれる直前に二人にもお嬢さんが生まれたので米国での出産に関する色々なことを教えてもらい大変助かりました。その後、いつの間にか疎遠になっていました。一度Pさんにボストンで偶然お会いしたことはありますが、またご無沙汰。Pさんは全米日米協会連合の理事長を長年なさっていたようで、昨年は日本政府から外国人として叙勲されたとのこと。スーパーでの短い会話の中での嬉しいニュースでした。
混雑したスーパーの中で見つけてくださったPさんご夫妻に改めて感謝です。「奇遇」という言葉がぴったりの再会でした。
I rented a car for going out to buy foods and some small things for my friends in Japan. I requested a compact car but they rented a bigger one instead because the smaller car was out of the office. I like driving but I should have paid special attention not to damage that unfamiliar car.
When I was looking for something I needed at the third shop which was a huge supermarket, I heard someone calling my name. I thought that it can't be true because I rarely went to that supermarket and I knew very limited people in the US. I looked towards the direction of the voice, and an American couple was looking at me. First, I wondered who they were, then I remembered that he was Mr. P.K. whom I was tutoring Japanese when I was working at Harvard Univ. and she was his wife, Ms.K.D. We haven't met each other for several decades. I was so surprised !!
At the time we first met, P was expected to go to Japan for his business, so he wanted to brush up his Japanese with me. He introduced his fiance to me and we became good friends. Soon, they married and moved to Tokyo and lived there for a couple of years. They came to our wedding in Shiga.
In Boston, just before I was pregnant, they had a baby girl, so K taught many things about giving birth in the US. I was helped so much by her advice. After that, however, I lost touch with them. I met P in Boston many years ago, but again we had not contacted each other. P told me that he had been a president of the National Association of Japan-America Societies for many years and was awarded by the Japanese government for his contribution between the US and Japan. I heard this wonderful news from him during our short conversation in the supermarket.
I really appreciated that they found me in the crowded site. The word "Coincidence" is just suited in this situation and it was a happy meeting.
