Shortly after we moved to Rapid City, we became involved in the Rapid City - Imaichi Sister City Organization. Imaichi is part of the greater Nikko area and the Sister City relationship has now grown to include the Nikko area. At the time, we had teenage children and among the programs of the Sister City relationship were annual exchanges of high school students. Students from Rapid City would travel to Imaichi and be hosted by families there for ten days. Then those students would travel together with students from Imaichi who would be hosted in Rapid City for ten days. We hosted students in the ten day program and then were able to host a student for a year-long exchange. Misami fit right into our family and we had a wonderful year that has become the foundation of a life-long relationship between our families. Although both of our children went to Japan for the 10-day exchange and our daughter was hosted in Misami’s home, it took us 20 years before Susan and I were able to travel to Imaichi in 2018 and visit Misami’s family and meet her parents. One time when we only had one or two grandchildren, I once said, “I think 5 would be a good number of grandchildren.” I told our children that between the two of them they could have five children. It was meant as a joke, and when it turned out that we have 4 grandchildren, I was and continue to be delighted. Then, last year, Misami had a daughter and so now I claim 5 grandchildren. Our family has a set of deeply personal relationships that grew out of the Sister City program.

Now that we have moved to Mount Vernon, Washington, one of the things that I want to explore and learn more about is Mount Vernon’s Sister City: Kure. Kure is a port city in the Hiroshima Prefecture of Japan. Hiroshima City is one of the places we were able to visit in our 2018 trip to Japan, so we have a sense of the area.

I know a little bit more about the Sister City relationship between Seattle and Kobe, Japan. That sister city relationship has been active since 1957, with a huge number of exchanges and connections. In 1962, the City of Kobe gave a giant bell to the city of Seattle for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. The “friendship bell” is located in a courtyard north of the International Fountain. I visited that bell with my family when I was a child, but I have never heard it ring.

The Kobe Bell will ring out this afternoon at 2:25 pm as six ringers participate in a ceremony with a great deal more solemnity, sadness and grief. The bell will be rung 40 times reflecting the nearly 4,000 lives lost in Washington State and the 400,000 lives lost nationally in the United States. The ringing of the bell will be broadcast live and all interested are invited to participate through the Seattle Center Facebook page. The ceremony is part of the National Memorial to Lives Lost to Covid 19. As part of the day of remembrance and recognition, the Space Needle will be lit in amber, the color of a candle, along with other prominent facilities in the downtown Seattle area. Because of the difference in time zones, the Kobe Port Tower, a prominent feature of Kobe, has already been lighted in amber in recognition of the event in Seattle and the grim connection between the cities of having lost community members to the pandemic.

The ceremony, while very emotional for those who have lost loved ones, is a necessary part of the healing that lies ahead for cities and nations around the globe as we begin the long process of growing from the devastation of the pandemic. The pandemic has redefined how we grieve as a people. We have not been able to attend the funerals of those we love who have died. The fear of further spread of the disease has isolated us from what is usually a communal event - the formal recognition of our shared grief combined with our expressions of love and support for those who were closest to the one who died.

A national day to express grief, to share the burdens that have fallen on those whose family members have been lost, and to renew our hope is a welcome step on the long journey of healing as a people, as a nation, and as a world. We survive our grief by sharing our grief. We become a community by sharing the grief of others.


In Washington, DC, 400,000 flags have been planted on the national mall, which is eerily silent because of security precautions required for the Inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris. A lighting ceremony at the reflecting pool of the Lincoln Memorial will take place today as an expression of our national grief.

After months and months of national and state leaders who seem to have not been affected by the grief of our communities in the face of so many deaths, it is refreshing to have a time set aside for us to share the grief of so many of our sisters and brothers. It is a powerful day to remember that none of us are in this alone. We share the journey of life and death, of joy and grief, with others. What happens to one member of our community happens to us all.

Deep in our traditions are the stories of creation that are a part of our Bible. In the second chapter of Genesis it is reported that during the process of creation, God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” In our tradition, we acknowledge that we were created for each other. It is part of our essential nature to be with others and to share their lives. That includes sharing their grief.

Today is a national day of sharing grief - a day of mourning. It is essential that we also remember that it is not the last day. This day of mourning is not the end of our story. In the depths of grief there is hope. So we will ring bells and light candles and remember together.

“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”