Heritage Gateways

Osamu Sekiguchi Journals

April 24, 1997

Location: North Bend, Nebraska - Location: 41:27:43N 96:46:46W

Elevation: 1272 feet

Summary: Thursday, April 24, 1997 (Cloudy Day)

Journal entry: [Translated by Hajime Nakagawa]

It was my second son, Koji's birthday today. It was a birthday in a wet covered wagon. Americans make much of birthdays. In the evening, a young man, called BC, gave Koji a performance on guitar at our camp in North Bend. People who gathered around us sang a birthday song to the guitar for Koji. Mark and Cathy who are sharing a wagon with us gave a T-shirt to Koji.

"Such a birthday can be good for you sometimes." My wife, Takako said to Koji.

"Dad, when we return to Japan, please buy Mini-yonku (a Japanese toy) for me (as a birthday present)", Koji asked me. He would probably forget about it when we got home, so I gave a vague answer.

The campgrounds are alongside the tracks of the Union Pacific in North Bend. The railroad has been built on the transcontinental route that the Mormon pioneers opened. We might sleep with whistles for a while.

We were worried about weather because a strong wind came up. My family decided to throw some unnecessary stuff away because it took up too much space in our wagon. However we thought it a waste to do such a thing, so we gave it someone who wanted it. It seemed the Mormon pioneers did the same thing. We understood their feelings a little bit. I realized the abundance of things we have in Japan.