The Lammers

The six hour drive north brought us to Morioka which is the city where Tetsu grew up and where I worked in a Christian center when I first came to Japan at the age of 22.  I met Tetsu within weeks of arriving though I worked and lived at the Christian center with a few other missionaries.  I lived briefly in an apartment alone near the church I attended until Tetsu and I were married two years later.  From there we were transferred hither and yon by the company Tetsu worked for at the time so actually my years in Morioka only amount to three.  But they were life changing years for me! 

The Lammers post 2008.

We've kept our roots in Morioka though Tetsu's family has little connection anymore.  His brother and sister live in other parts of Japan so there is no family home for us to return to but we purchased a grave site in the Morioka Christian cemetery a couple of years after we were married...  for our first child but eventually Tetsu and my ashes will be interred there also.  We took Tetsu's mother's ashes to Morioka last November and now there is all the more reason to get to the city once or twice a year.

When I first started working at the Christian center, there were two missionary couples already there and the older couple took me under their wing and helped me get used to Japanese life and to being independent in general.  Dick and Martha Lammers fondly watched Tetsu and my romance bloom and when we got married, we asked them to be our Go-Betweens.  In Japan, traditionally the go-betweens are an older couple who helps arrange a marriage between two young people.  And I mean arrange!  Arrange a meeting, do the business of getting family history and future prospects on the table so that the families know who is who and whether a marriage contract should be arranged!  Of course by the time Tetsu and I were dating, WE decided to get married and the go-between custom was rather token.  The Lammers stood up with us at our wedding instead of a maid of honor or best man etc. 

In ways other than traditional however, the Lammers advised, taught, mentored us continually about our life as an international couple.  They had lived 40 years in Japan already and they knew both countries cultures and thought processes.  Many times before and after our wedding I went to Martha with questions and frustrations and in need of someone to talk to.  They advised when Tetsu changed jobs...  They offered comfort and support when our daughter died...  Their way of life and their way of thinking have molded me and given me something to emulate and hope to pass on.

Martha and Dick retired to the States nearly 30 years ago but before leaving, they too purchased a grave plot in Morioka saying that they wanted their ashes to rest in Japan, the country they have loved so much.  When Dick passed away a couple of years ago, his body was donated to science and just recently the ashes were returned to Martha who immediately set in motion the original plan of bringing the ashes back to Morioka.

Martha now is 93!  She and Dick had returned to Japan a couple of times in the last 30 years to do short missionary trips or work in an agricultural training center.  At any rate, Tetsu and I have been able to see the Lammers two or three times in the last 30 years.  They never changed!  And seeing Martha this weekend was like seeing her 30 years ago!  The rest of us all have white hair (or no hair!) but Martha remains the same old Martha!

I'm getting way into this story and still no pictures from this weekend!  Our purpose of going to Morioka was to see Martha, to attend the interring ceremony and to gather with other friends and students to honor Dick at a celebration "party".