In the eyes of a child...

Joy asked me, 'What 'Tohoku', mom?' as I repeated absently while reading my dear Japanese teacher's reply on Facebook regarding the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

I told her it's a place in Japan and that there was a huge earthquake and tsunami -- a huge wave as high as tall buildings that had washed off many people's homes and cars.  She said, 'It's ok, mom, when the big wave goes away, the people will build their houses and find their cars again, and they will find their way back.'

Hmmm...she doesn't understand...I thought I might try to illustrate consequences of the disaster with a little more severity.  So I told her, 'The big wave has also washed many people's daddies, mommies and children away.  They are lost forever...can never be found.'  She said, 'Then I will put a whistle in my mouth and blow like this (demonstrating with her finger), so they can hear me and find their way home...then, then Joy Joy will build a house and everybody build a house and I will tell them to go inside, go inside and stay there...then we go and find the rest home.'

Words of a child...heart of a child...I'm trying to recall how disasters appeared to me when I was a child...