Marine Day

It is interesting how life works. On August 3rd, 2009 I found myself taking an 8-hour-bus-ride from Tokyo to Fukui to begin a new chapter in the story of my life. 353 days later I found myself on that exact same road (Hokuriku Expressway) for the first time since, the only difference was that I was driving my very own car after having trekked through the summit of the Japanese Alps and making a careless mistake on the way back. Little did I know at the time, that exactly one year later I would find myself on the exact same road again, but rather than driving my own car solo I would be accompanied by the love my life driving her cute yellow car. To make matters even more surprising, I’m now only five months away from becoming a “Dad”. This just goes to show that we simply cannot know what life has in store for us just around the corner. Incredible. 

Monday also happened to be 海の日 (Marine Day), a holiday in Japan devoted to celebrate the greatness of the sea. It goes without saying that both my wife and I have always been fond of the sea. It is not surprising that the name we’ve chosen for our soon-to-be-born-son is closely associated with the “ocean”. A notable choice considering how easy and quickly we came upon it among the millions of other possible name choices. 

“What’s in a name?,” people often ask. 

A name gives you a certain power, a specific characteristic, which although is not of your own choosing, provides you with a life-long identity. A calling that is uniquely yours in your own way. In your own self.  

I am not sure how difficult and time consuming it is for parents out there to come to mutual agreement in regards to their child’s name. The one thing I know for certain is that for us this decision came easy and we are confident that our son will one day come to appreciate the very reason why his name carries so much depth and power within it’s three letters.