Before graduating from BSU, I took a job selling cars at Fairly Reliable Bob's Used Cars in Boise. Erin's uncle Van started helping us get a job in Japan and I did not want to buy a car that we would not be able to sell. The guy's at Fairly's talked me in to buying a Harley instead. That was a fun choice. It was a great bike and when I go through my mid life crisis, I will not have to buy a Harley. This was at Jeff and Angie's wedding, and I believe my Uncle Bob took the picture.
We headed to Japan on August 28th, 1998. Daifuku hired me to go work in the International Sales and Marketing Group, which was a fancy name for a sales support group for projects in Turkey, Brazil, Australia and Taiwan. I was in that group for three months until I was pulled in to the North American support group. We were in Japan for a year, and it was a wonderful year.
We had quite a few visitors come over but I would have to say of all the visitors I loved showing my grandparents and parents around this great country. Above is a picture of my grandpa Tom and I in front of Bakudan Domu, which was left in tact to show the horrific effect of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. I was able to take my grandpa Ray there almost 6 months later. It was wonderful to see these two men who had lived during that time and remember the bombs dropping see such a historic place.
My grandpa Ray was not really excited for me when I received my call to Japan, as he was trained in the Army Air Corp to fly B-29's over the enemy Japan. When I took him to Hiroshima and the entire city is dedicated to world peace and the distruction of Nuclear weapons, it was a life changing experience for me. A group of 3rd graders were singing a song, Grandpa Ray asked me to translate. The gist of their song was that the people of Hiroshima have forgiven the destruction and pain and ask the world to join them in their quest for ridding anyone from ever feeling their same pain. I watched as my wonderful grandpa started to cry and he said to me, "I can not believe what a wonderful people the Japanese are. I was trained that they were evil and I have spent my life believing it." It was an extemely powerful lesson to me, and one of the most tender moments and memories that I have with my Grandpa Ray.
Erin is not one for sitting around. She took flower arrainging, pottery and got involved in so many different things. We lived out in the country so whenever this young American girl did anything she was put on a pedestal. She was put in the paper for teaching a group of old ladies how to speak English. Her pottery was self described as the worst in the class, but she was chosen to have hers put in the local museum for a special display.
On New Year's Eve, we drove to Kyoto and spent the day seeing the sights. It is a wonderful city and we had a lot of fun! This is the KinKakuJi and one of the most beautiful temples in Japan.
Here we are at the Tokyo Temple where I ran in to a family that was in Kushiro where I served my mission. The brother came running up to me and recognized me right away.
As you can see here, Erin is pregnant with Tyler. We were so excited to have him come and spend time with us in Japan. We were fairly naive, I remember saying, "people have been having babies forever, what could possibly go wrong." The birth went wonderful, it was the next couple of years that would strengthen my relationship to Erin and make me realize that she is an incredible person, mom and wife. I can not imagine Tyler's ordeal without her strength, optimism and fortitude.
