When my husband was serving in the Navy and stationed in California at NAS Moffett Field, he had two deployments to Japan. The second one occurred around the time that our daughter was about a year and half old. We decided that Tiffany and I would join my husband for the middle two months of the deployment. She and I packed up and flew across the Pacific in the middle of August.
We stayed in an apartment just outside of the base in Misawa, Japan. In September, we decided to take a vacation. A trip to Tokyo and Hong Kong sounded like the break that we all needed. So, we packed up and flew first to Tokyo for a few days.
Since our daughter loved Disneyland so much, we thought that an excursion to Tokyo Disneyland would be something she would enjoy. The park was a short train ride outside of the city, so early one morning we set out for a day of fun and park attractions.
What we did not realize was that the main attraction that day at the park was going to be our 18 month-old blond haired, blue-eyed little girl. Once we were inside the park, we headed to the Country Bear Jamboree. Back in the U.S., that had been one of Tiffany’s favorite spots in Disneyland. It took a few minutes to adjust to the fact that the bears were singing in Japanese with country accents! But we enjoyed the show tremendously.
On our way out of the Jamboree, a Japanese family motioned us over to them to take their picture. We grabbed their camera, and they grabbed our daughter! They wanted a picture with Tiffany! “How sweet,” I told my husband as we walked to our next event. I was touched by the fact that this family wanted to include our daughter in their memories of Disneyland.
While we were waiting in line for the ride through “It’s a Small World,” a Japanese woman handed us a small bag of treats and motioned that it was for Tiffany. Once again, I exclaimed to my husband about the hospitable nature of the Japanese. “They are so kind!” I told him.
As we walked through the park, people gestured to us to allow them photo opportunities with our little girl. She was like a rock star let loose in the crowd. “Hon,” I told him, “I think that our baby is absolutely the most perfect child on the planet, but I am her mother. I cannot understand the Japanese fascination with her.”
My husband took a deep breath and said, “It’s really quite simple. Look around the park. How many blonds do you see?” he asked me. As I stood there and took in all of the visitors to the park that day, it finally dawned on me! Our Tiffany was the only blond in the park, and probably in Tokyo for that matter.
My realization was almost a let down. I scooped my baby up in my arms and whispered to her that she was truly a very special little girl. What I thought was a global adoration of my little angel was simply that in that particular place, she was unique. For me as her mother, that uniqueness would be forever.
