Mom and I were in the car the other day. Now in her 80's she lives in a home, usually wins the door decorating contest and we were out shopping for jussst the right touches to finish off her door.  We passed some Christmas trees and Mom remarked how perfectly shaped each one was "They didn't always come like that," she said, "you used to REALLY have to look a tree over to get a good one."

"Well," I said, "we always seemed to get a good one, I can't remember a bad one".  She looked at me with that look mothers have that more than adequately says "What planet are YOU living on?".  "Do you remember our first Christmas in Misawa?" she asked.  "Well, I remember A LOT about Misawa .. but what about that Christmas?"

[BACKGROUND: Misawa, Japan 1960 (I was 5 .. brother 7, sister 8 and 2 yr old sister). My father was in the USAF and was posted to Misawa for a 3 year tour (northern Japan out in the middle of nowhere).

We actually lived at my Grandmother's in Cincinnatti, Ohio as the command required you to have housing before the USAF would fly your family in. To get on-base housing required my Dad to arrive, put his name on the housing list and wait ... usually 2 years and then he could (maybe) get housing. My Dad's reaction was "Yeah, Right ... I don't THINK so!"

"Can I build my own house", he asked. He found out he actually could build a house if he wanted and there were rules out the wazoo  .. had to use a Japanese contractor, etc. etc.  He researched it all, found a contractor, designed it himself and costed it out.  He made a deal....  Mom & Dad would pay for the materials and the builder would pay for construction --- but they would live rent free. When they got on-base housing the home would become the property of the builder for perpetuity. (Trust me ... building a 4 bedrooom American styled house in the middle of a small Japanese village in post-war Japan .... could be several blogs in itself.)

He got everything all lined out and presented himself, his paper-work and his builder at the JAG office for final approval...and it went downhill from there.  The JAG office said "new rule" ---- to avoid profiteering, once a builder builds for an American, he cannot build for another .. he can only build once; Request Denied.  As they walked out Mr. Matamoto-san was apologizing saying "Yes it is true I have built a house for Americans before, this rule is new, I did not know."  Dad said, "I still want you to build my house".  "But we cannot, Mr. Matamoto-san said, I have already built for Americans before."  "Yes, you have," Dad said, "but your wife hasn't."   Mr. Matamoto-san smiled broadly, bowed, and said "That is true ... my wife will build this house for you." Dad had the house built and we were over there in 7 months living in our "American" house in the middle of this tiny Japanese village about 5 miles from the back gate of the base. ]

So turning to Mom I said, "Didn't we have a Christmas tree in Misawa? I thought we did".  "Well, we almost didn't" she said. "It was absolutely against the law in Japan to cut a live tree, stiff fines and jail time were involved (ie also, the base commander said any military personnel who did it would be court-martialed). So there were no vendors selling them on the street corners and the commissary flew in a few but they were all gone within 15 minutes .. the people who had been there the year before knew to look for when the Christmas trees came in .. but we didn't".  "So what did you do?" I asked. "Well, we were just out of luck, and had to make the best of it.  I bought a blow-up stand-up Santa in the toy store and we decided we'd stand him in the corner and put the presents all around him"

"Then on Christmas Eve, when you were all asleep I was waiting for your Father  to come home. (Dad worked swing-shifts then). And I heard this faint knocking on the outside door." (Even with an "American" house we still had a vestibule entry from the outside, where you came in and removed your shoes, and then entered the actual house). "I opened the door and this tree is thrust through the door ---  quickly followed by a small figure who slams the door and immediately starts bowing."  Smiling broadly this little japanese Obasan (Auntie) is pointing to the tree and repeatedly motioning by putting her hand on her heart and then extending it towards my Mom, saying excitedly .."Babysan! Babysan!"  The tree was for us ... this woman had gone out into the woods in the dead of night and cut a tree so the American Babysan's could have one on Christmas morning!

She wouldn't stay for tea, she wouldn't take any money for it .. it was her "presento for Babysan" and once her mission was accomplished she left as quickly as she came.

We found out later that one of Mom's friends from church (who also lived off-base) HAD gotten a Christmas tree at the commissary and was explaining to one of her Japanese neighbors (whose English was pretty good) how glad she was to have gotten one,  but that the Sinnard children would not have one this year.

The tree-cutter was somehow related to that neighbor, but we never found out more. Somehow she heard the babysans who lived in that house on the corner were not going to have a Christmas tree -- and she decided YES they would!

"It was the most pitiful and straggliest thing you ever saw" Mom said, "Charlie Brown's tree looks like the one in Rockefeller Center compared to this one ...and when your Father got home we decorated it within an inch of its life!"

Merry Christmas, Babysan!

Judith, The Floor Plan Lady

www.smarteplans.com

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© SMARTePLANS®  2011

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