Remembering Jeff Getz

Reid here.

I caught a leaf.

The leaf came forth in spring, light green and tender. Summer came and temperatures increased. The leaf grew in size and depth of green. Rains came, often times gentle, sometimes hard. The leaf held on. Winds blew, sometimes softly, sometimes with a typhoon's force. The leaf held on. Fall came pushing away hot temperatures. More storms came. The leaf held on. The leaf's color changed showing a new beauty it hadn't shown before. Fall drew to a close.

The winter sun was shining bright. The sky was cloudless. The air still, crisp and clean. The leaf let go.

God blessed me to be there to catch it. 

The weekend of October 25-27, 1996, I went to Kaneyama, Fukushima, a moutainous area known as Aizuwakamatsu. A fellow JET, Jeff Getz, had invited me out to just hang out for the weekend. I liked Jeff. We seemed to have a lot in common: a love for Jesus, previously teachers in the United States, both quite comfortable with solitude, both having traveled around the U.S. sleeping in our vehicles, both having a bunch of different types of jobs in our (then) young lives, and Simon & Garfunkel. Yeah, I liked Jeff.

That weekend, we drove in and around the mountains taking in the amazing colors - deep reds of the maples, warm yellows of the ash(?), deep greens of the cedars, brilliant blues of the fall sky. I had not seen a fall so beautiful before. The company was very good, too. Jeff and I talked a lot about God.

We also talked about other things, too. I remember Jeff told me a story about when he used to teach. He would take his students outside on a fall day to some nearby trees. They would try to catch leaves as they fell. After this experience, he told them something like I said at the beginning of this post. He then had them just sit for a little bit thinking on this and any parallels they may draw from the experience.

The next weekend, Jeff went hiking. He fell from the edge of waterfall and died. They found him three days later.

I think of Jeff every fall when I see leaves falling from the trees. I try to catch one. When I do, I hold it for a bit and thank God that I could know Jeff.

I hope to see Jeff again someday.

Christmas Eve Karaoke

After eating cheeseburgers and fries at Molly Malones, we headed next door to the karaoke club.  The kids were hesitant at first, but they quickly came alive.   We reserved the room for one hour.   We even enjoyed free refills on soda.  The only other place in town that serves free refills is Costco.  So, this was quite a treat.  

Andy singing "Beat It" by Michael Jackson.

Reid singing "Africa" by Toto.

Andy and Novelynn singing "Baby" by Justin Bieber.

Jack and Andy singing "Thriller".

We had a great time!  We will definitely do it again.  

Christmas Eve Celebrations

We didn't ship any of our Christmas decor, but we found the perfect pre-lit tree at Costco here in Hiroshima. 

Christmas Eve was a bit different this year.  It was business as usual here in Japan.  It isn't a national holiday so Reid had to work most of the day.  He chose to use a little vacation time and came home at noon.  The kids were very anxious for him to get home.  They were ready to open presents.

They boys and I walked up the street to Mr. Donut.  We ordered 4 Christmas trees and a plain glazed for Novelynn.

We always open gifts from each other on Christmas Eve, and this year was no different.  Jack and Andy got Disney Infinity for the Wii.  Novelynn got One Direction perfume and some Clinique makeup.

Reid and I also opened our gifts.

Reid has been wanting some chawan bowls.  They are good for keeping your rice warm during your meal. 

He also got some Chanel for men smell good.

I got a Seiko (made in Japan of course) watch, and I love it. 

Jack made all of us a little something special.  He made Reid and I a card with Santa on it.  Andy got a small package of cookies.  He made Novelynn a puzzle.  He wrapped it all up in a box.  Here we are opening it. 

HIS "Once Upon A Christmas"

Our school organized a big Christmas celebration downtown in the Hondori shopping district.  We sold crafts and homemade goodies. There was a storytelling station and a picture with Santa tent.  There was even a big yellow school bus. There was live entertainment by faculty, staff, parents, and students. The weather was cold, but we had lots of fun.

Andy and Rinto just hanging out.


Trying to keep warm while waiting in line for some ice cream.

Yoneda-san's ca. 1985 bus that he had shipped over from L.A., California. It was a haven of warmth!
 

 
 The elementary school choir getting ready to sing.


Here, they were singing "The Lonely Goatherd" song, and Jack was working his eyebrows and eyes like the original Lonely Goatherd. Funny stuff.


Where's Andy?
 
There's Jack!.... but Andy?  Where is that boy?

...In here?  ... I don't see him.


Oh!  I see him. Right under the American flag. Just his eyes and sprig of hair. Now. I wonder if he's singing?

Dating again

Reid here. 
One thing Angela and I do in Japan that we really didn't do very much in Little Rock is go out on "dates." Here, there are restaurants everywhere. Walk just a few short blocks and we're there. The places are small and usually pretty quiet. It's not uncommon for Angela and I to be the only ones there (besides the owner) for at least part of our meal.  Being so close to home makes it easier to leave the kids alone for that time. They'll be well-trained by the time we get back, and we can continue this in Little Rock. I'm definitely grateful for these times. 


The other night, we went out on a more fancy date where we dressed up and ate a nice dinner at a Christmas party for the Hiroshima International Women's Club.

The party was held at an Italian restaurant. The food presentation was very nice. Here's what the desert looked like. (I forgot to get pictures of the other courses.) 

Toward the end of the evening, someone thought it would be nice to sing some Silent Night together. The emcee asked if anyone would come up and sing. Roy Shore (Executive Director of RERF, and more importantly, in our church family here in Hiroshima), Akiko-san (a lady who sings in a local choir), and I went up.  I was glad to be up there with Roy singing about Jesus. And I'm glad I could be there with my lovely wife.