A Beautiful Observation

One of the things I enjoy doing in my daily life in Japan is taking my 3 year old to the local playground. We are very lucky to be living in a neighbourhood surrounded by beautiful parks and children's playgrounds that are all accessible by foot within minutes. Besides spending good quality time with my little boy, taking walks like these always bring about new discoveries that can be inspiring. And that was what happened yesterday.

It was hot and humid so I decided to take Aiden to the playground earlier in the morning. The place was quiet except for an old man with a boy (probably about 3 or 4 year old) who was playing in the sandpit. The man looked like he was in his 60s so I guessed he was probably the grandfather. Shortly after we arrived, they started preparing to leave (hope we were not the reason!). The grandfather washed and packed up all the sandpit toys and proceeded to clean the boy up. He opened up a bag that contained some towels and fresh new clothes, and used the water from the tap at the playground, meticulously cleaning up the boy who had sand all over his body. Then he dressed him up with the fresh clean clothes and sat him down, giving him a drink and some crackers to snack on.

I was very moved as I sat there watching. The silent bond between a grandfather and a child. The tender care by the grandfather. The smile on the boy's face as he sat down in his clean outfit, eating the snacks. It was all so sweet. And very very inspiring.
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