We have visited Bernard’s brother’s home to see his family where his mother was visiting at that time. When we walked into the small courtyard in front of the house, his nieces, nephews, and neighbor’s kids welcomed us first. Then, we sat at the veranda with his brothers, cousins, and neighbors, and just chatted about everything.  While we were talking, his mother was busy cooking for us and the children were playing in the courtyard.

It always amazes me that mothers’ behavior is quite universal; they always want to “feed their children.” My mother in Japan would do the same any time I go back home. When the meal was ready, she quietly sat close to us and enjoyed listening to our conversation. The kids were also close to us, yet still entertaining themselves. They paid attention to us somewhat, but they kept on playing.

During our two hours visit, we did not do anything special but enjoyed spending the time with everyone. Nobody intended to entertain us by doing something special; they were all there and gave their time and attention. I loved this visit because it was so ordinary and normal. I might not enjoy as much if his family would have planed to please us by doing something special on that day.

When I look back, it was great to see and learn from the real beauty of multi-generational interactions from the moment we shared with them. It was wonderful to see everyone fully engaged by sharing the same space and time during our visit.

This experience taught me that “normalcy” cannot be achieved in an over designed or planed communities. We should be willing to accept  “imperfection”  to let real life happen, otherwise our lives may become boring…