As a part of the services of Rolling Hills Covenant Church, a group of us visited South Bay Keiro Nursing Home in Gardena, which is right next to Torrance. We sang Japanese songs there in front of, say, 50 or so residents. This Nursing home is a facility that specifically targets Japanese American communities in the South Bay area.
廊下にはこのとおり、おじいちゃんやおばあちゃんの作品が並んでいます。On the walls, you find works created by residents.
「幸せなら手をたたこう」、「みかんの花」などの手遊び歌や、「赤とんぼ」、「ふるさと」などを歌いました。「ふるさと」を歌いながら、この方たちの中には、「日本に戻りたい」と思っている人もいるのじゃないかなと思いました。最後にひとりひとり手を握って、「聞いてくださってどうもありがとう。また来ます。」と言うと、流暢な日本語で「ありがとう」という人も、完璧な発音で「Thank you」という人もありました。私もゆくゆくはこういうところに入るのかなあなんて思って帰ってきました。We enjoyed play songs with them and sang other traditional Japanese songs. One of the songs was about hometown or homeland. I just imagined that some of these people would be yearning to go and visit Japan, which did not seem very easy, since many of them are in a wheelchair. When we are done, we shook hands with each one of them saying "Arigato!." Some of them returned "Arigato" in perfect Japanese, others returned "Thank you" in perfect English. I wondered if I will be in one of these facilities in the future.
