[News] Mom vows to find 3-year-old daughter
You're definitely going to need tissues for this one...
Mom vows to find 3-year-old daughter
MINAMI-SANRIKUCHO, Miyagi--More than 8,500 people remain missing, nearly three months after the Great East Japan Earthquake. One is 3-year-old Yu Miura.
Yu's 35-year-old mother, Nao, continues to search for her daughter around the ruins of her house as workers go about the task of clearing debris.
All other members of her immediate family--her parents-in-law and husband--have been confirmed dead.
"I fear my little daughter might be taken away with the debris. I want to do everything possible to find her," she said.
Nao was walking around the Utatsu district of Minami-Sanrikucho recently, searching through debris while heavy machinery demolished the remains of damaged buildings.
She asked the operators of the heavy machinery to work carefully in case Yu was somewhere in the area.
"Please be careful, because she's a little kid," she said.
She told the workers Yu was 95 centimeters tall and weighed 13 kilograms. She bowed and asked them to call her cell phone if they found a girl matching the description.
Yu, Nao and her husband Hiroshi's only child, was very light and Nao would often pick her up and give her hugs. Watching her daughter grow gave Nao great joy, and she had last measured Yu's height and weight in early March, shortly before the disaster struck.
Yu liked helping her mother. Whenever Nao was busy in the kitchen, Yu would bring in a step ladder so she could reach the bench and lend a hand.
Often, when Nao was preparing to leave home and go to her job as a care manager with the town's social welfare council, Yu would cry and beg to be picked up for a hug.
When the quake hit on March 11, Nao was in Kesennuma. She had been feeling sick and had driven by herself to a hospital in the city, and dropped into a supermarket there before heading home.
She tried to call her parents-in-law, who were at home with Yu, but she could not get through.
With the roads blocked, it took three days for Nao to get back to Utatsu.
The Miuras' house was washed away by the colossal tsunami. Nao stayed at Utatsu Middle School, which was being used as a shelter. All four members of her family--Hiroshi, 40, who was an official of the town government, Hiroshi's parents and Yu--were missing.
Her 63-year-old mother-in-law was soon found dead near where their house had stood. Her posture looked as though she had been hugging something.
Nao heard from others that her mother-in-law had been seen holding Yu as she tried to run from the tsunami.
About three weeks after the disaster, the body of her 72-year-old father-in-law was found.
Hiroshi's body was discovered 40 days after March 11.
Her husband was an enthusiastic fan of Vegalta Sendai, the J.League professional soccer team, and late last year he had promised Yu, "Because you're a big girl now, I'll take you to the stadium next year." Yu replied in excitement, "Let's go!"
"It was good that my husband's body was found," Nao said. "But it means Yu has been left alone."
The Emperor visited Utatsu Middle School on April 27, and Nao's mother wept as she showed him a photo of Yu. The Emperor looked closely at the picture and said, "I hope she will be found."
Nao is still staying in the shelter, not far from the ruins of her home. On May 4, she returned to her job as a care manager, working at a makeshift care center about 10 kilometers away.
Six elderly people Nao had cared for were killed in the disaster, and many of her other clients lost relatives. Nao does her best to encourage her elderly clients, but every morning when she sets out, she thinks of her daughter.
"Yu might be crying and saying, 'Mom, don't go,'" Nao said.
There were about 500 people staying at Utatsu Middle School at one stage, and many have moved on--there are now about 120 residents. But Nao continues to stay so she can visit the ruins of her house on her way home from work and on her days off.
In the first days of Nao's search for her daughter, her hair would become damp because of the falling snow. Now, sweat beads on her forehead while she continues to look for Yu.
One day, as Nao was walking through the debris, a lady beetle flew in front of her. She remembered that when Yu was 2, she had said she wanted to grow up to be a lady beetle. The sight of the small bug made Nao feel as if her daughter was with her.
Nao said at that moment she made a vow: "I won't leave here until I can meet Yu again."
Source
Mom vows to find 3-year-old daughter
MINAMI-SANRIKUCHO, Miyagi--More than 8,500 people remain missing, nearly three months after the Great East Japan Earthquake. One is 3-year-old Yu Miura.
Yu's 35-year-old mother, Nao, continues to search for her daughter around the ruins of her house as workers go about the task of clearing debris.
All other members of her immediate family--her parents-in-law and husband--have been confirmed dead.
"I fear my little daughter might be taken away with the debris. I want to do everything possible to find her," she said.
Nao was walking around the Utatsu district of Minami-Sanrikucho recently, searching through debris while heavy machinery demolished the remains of damaged buildings.
She asked the operators of the heavy machinery to work carefully in case Yu was somewhere in the area.
"Please be careful, because she's a little kid," she said.
She told the workers Yu was 95 centimeters tall and weighed 13 kilograms. She bowed and asked them to call her cell phone if they found a girl matching the description.
Yu, Nao and her husband Hiroshi's only child, was very light and Nao would often pick her up and give her hugs. Watching her daughter grow gave Nao great joy, and she had last measured Yu's height and weight in early March, shortly before the disaster struck.
Yu liked helping her mother. Whenever Nao was busy in the kitchen, Yu would bring in a step ladder so she could reach the bench and lend a hand.
Often, when Nao was preparing to leave home and go to her job as a care manager with the town's social welfare council, Yu would cry and beg to be picked up for a hug.
When the quake hit on March 11, Nao was in Kesennuma. She had been feeling sick and had driven by herself to a hospital in the city, and dropped into a supermarket there before heading home.
She tried to call her parents-in-law, who were at home with Yu, but she could not get through.
With the roads blocked, it took three days for Nao to get back to Utatsu.
The Miuras' house was washed away by the colossal tsunami. Nao stayed at Utatsu Middle School, which was being used as a shelter. All four members of her family--Hiroshi, 40, who was an official of the town government, Hiroshi's parents and Yu--were missing.
Her 63-year-old mother-in-law was soon found dead near where their house had stood. Her posture looked as though she had been hugging something.
Nao heard from others that her mother-in-law had been seen holding Yu as she tried to run from the tsunami.
About three weeks after the disaster, the body of her 72-year-old father-in-law was found.
Hiroshi's body was discovered 40 days after March 11.
Her husband was an enthusiastic fan of Vegalta Sendai, the J.League professional soccer team, and late last year he had promised Yu, "Because you're a big girl now, I'll take you to the stadium next year." Yu replied in excitement, "Let's go!"
"It was good that my husband's body was found," Nao said. "But it means Yu has been left alone."
The Emperor visited Utatsu Middle School on April 27, and Nao's mother wept as she showed him a photo of Yu. The Emperor looked closely at the picture and said, "I hope she will be found."
Nao is still staying in the shelter, not far from the ruins of her home. On May 4, she returned to her job as a care manager, working at a makeshift care center about 10 kilometers away.
Six elderly people Nao had cared for were killed in the disaster, and many of her other clients lost relatives. Nao does her best to encourage her elderly clients, but every morning when she sets out, she thinks of her daughter.
"Yu might be crying and saying, 'Mom, don't go,'" Nao said.
There were about 500 people staying at Utatsu Middle School at one stage, and many have moved on--there are now about 120 residents. But Nao continues to stay so she can visit the ruins of her house on her way home from work and on her days off.
In the first days of Nao's search for her daughter, her hair would become damp because of the falling snow. Now, sweat beads on her forehead while she continues to look for Yu.
One day, as Nao was walking through the debris, a lady beetle flew in front of her. She remembered that when Yu was 2, she had said she wanted to grow up to be a lady beetle. The sight of the small bug made Nao feel as if her daughter was with her.
Nao said at that moment she made a vow: "I won't leave here until I can meet Yu again."
Source