MAMI'S BIRTHDAY

The Birthday Mami so desperately wanted to avoid arrived on Thursday 21st April.


We started the day with an hour's drive to Hiroshima with Nana to see if we could find the type of ring Mami had her heart set on. We had seen one in a market in Hiroshima the week before but it was the only one and it was too small! If you have ever seen the size of Mami's fingers, it beggars belief that any ring could ever be too small, but it was.


We looked at a few shops without luck and then, ventured into the most expensive jewellery shop in the shopping complex. I could have bought a car for the price of some of the rings in that shop. I had told Mami she could have whatever she wanted, all the time counting on her frugal nature to come to the fore in the decision making process. I began to sweat a little when she entered this shop and was subtly edging toward the door when I spotted a ring in a display near the door. It must have been the cheapest ring in the shop but was almost identical to the ring that Mami had seen the week before.


I called out to her but she was engaged in a conversation with the salesgirl. The next moment the salesgirl approached me, picked out the ring I was looking at and walked back to Mami.

Needless to say that is the ring which you now see on her finger. It was obviously meant to be.
That evening we had a small party with the family at home. It was fun and good for Mami to be able to share this milestone with her family. This Saturday we will be going out for a buffet meal (called 'Viking' meals in Japan) to celebrate in style.