Lily

Memorial lanterns

 Lily was a woman who lived in one of the villages where I was Rector.  She had very unusual features and she told me her mother had been Japanese.  She had few memories of her mother and had been brought up by a stepmother.  

One evening Lily and I were with other friends around a fireside and stories began to be told.  And Lily told us something of her own story.

Her mother's family was originally from Hiroshima but they moved to Tokyo during the war.  In August 1945 they received news of a devastating attack on their home city.

As soon as they could they went back to try and find other family members but with no success.  They went back to Tokyo to mourn their dead.  What they did not know was that they had themselves been contaminated.

Lily's father was British and he met her mother a few years later.  They married and soon Lily was born.  Her parents were so happy.

But before Lily was two, her mother died.  

On this day, I pray for all civilians who are caught up in conflicts they do not understand, and those who still suffer as a result of war.