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Credits: TheTalkingDad.com & FeedWind.comRecent Posts: M Thomas Apple
What’s in a name? That which we call…
One thing I have struggled with while uncovering my family’s complicated past is the lack of consistency in naming conventions before the digital age. In the Information Age, if you type in your name or ID with a single letter missing or out of place, your application gets rejected by whatever online program it is […]
Four generations of strong women: The paternal-maternal side(s)
It has been said that men write history but women live it. In my family, it’s also been the women who were the keepers of family history, the tellers of tales and stories. The saver of old photographs and documents. Which is why I have this photograph of four generations of women who brought four […]
Fred Langworthy and Susan O’Leary: Cultural Exiles
Since I wrote about an ancestor on my father’s side (one of his side’s anyway) from the 1920s, I thought the next story to introduce should be from someone on my mother’s side, from roughly the same time period. But one generation later. And with a theme of religious intolerance. And possibly related to 19th […]
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© Matthew Apple and Taking Leave, 2009-2017. Duplication of this material without express and written permission is strictly prohibited. If you would like to post or copy brief excerpts from the blog, please provide a link to the original URL along with an author's credit.
Tag Archives: Japan
First Year Wall (Part 2) – The (not-so voluntary) parent-teacher conference
In mid-April, I went to a parent-teacher conference. Actually, it was more like an enforced PTA committee, which one parent per kid had to attend. As a group. We sat at our kids’ desks (tiny!) and introduced ourselves. This was … Continue reading
The First Year Wall (Part 1) – Gakudo and the Kid
Three weeks ago, our youngest daughter went to nursery school for the last time. The following Monday, she started gakudo (学童, short for 学童教育 gakudokyouiku, which is usually translated as “after school program”). Since both my wife and I work … Continue reading
End of an Era: Goodbye, Nursery School
And so it begins. The end of the start of the rest of my children’s childhood. By which I mean our youngest daughter graduated from nursery school / kindergarten. Thinking back, we’ve been coming to our local nursery school every … Continue reading
Death of a Cherry Tree
This past Monday, city workers came to cut down a cherry tree near our house. It had been there for years. We found out later that a neighbor had complained that leaves falling in her backyard were a nuisance to … Continue reading
Farewell, Nursery. Hello, Kindergarten
After turning five in January, our youngest daughter finally made to the end of nursery school (“nen-cho,” 年長). Or so we thought. We had heard rumors in previous years that the system might change. It turns out that in this … Continue reading
Who was that Masked Flu Avenger?
Looking back now, I can laugh. The first week of February was rough. My wife had to work both weekend days, at the end of an already exhausting end-of-semester work week. I had also had little sleep. The previous month, my … Continue reading
Self-reliance starts young
Two weeks ago, my daughter graduated nursery school. Last week, my grandmother passed away (my daughter’s great-grandmother). Today, my daughter walked to elementary school for the first time. And the cycle continues… This is cherry blossom (sakura) season in Japan, … Continue reading
