The Purple Heart Read Online Free PDF

small sip
before placing it on a coaster. She sat on the sofa as she pondered what she
would say to her grandmother. How would she bring up the topic? Minutes passed
until finally, she straightened herself up. With a resigned sigh, she picked up
the cell phone and swiped through the contact list for her grandmother’s
number. Without any further hesitation, she clicked on the number and brought
the phone to her ear. The phone rang once, then a second time. Maybe her
grandmother was out? Should she leave a message if she wasn’t in? But on the
third ring, she heard the familiar voice of her grandmother.

F O U R
     
     
     
     
     
    “Hello?” asked Aiko’s
grandmother. Her voice was more deliberate in her olden days but it was still
clear.
    “Hi Grandma, it’s Aiko!”
Aiko said excitedly with a hint of nervousness.
    “Aiko! How are you? Are you
keeping warm?”
    “Yes Grandma, I am.” The
small talk had already exhausted itself and Aiko started to grasp for words not
knowing how to broach the topic of her grandfather.
    “It’s been so long since
I’ve seen you Aiko, not since your college days.”
    “I know,” Aiko’s tone
hinted with some guilt. “I’ll see you when I come home. I just wanted to call
and see how you were doing,” added Aiko as she bit her lip.
    “I hope so. Seeing you over
the holidays just isn’t enough for this old woman.”
    “You’re not old, Grandma,
you still have a lot of energy in you!”
    “Thank you, Aiko, I just
hope this old body of mine can stand a few more years and hopefully you can
make me a happy great-grandmother. Remember now, Japanese name.”
    Aiko blushed and smiled.
Her grandmother was getting old, and Aiko and her siblings were her only
grandchildren. As the matriarch of the Satoh family, it was her incessant
reminder that everyone down the Satoh line be given a Japanese first name to
honor their Japanese heritage. Her grandmother also had a beautiful Japanese
name, Minami.
    Minami Satoh was a woman
with a strong will that wove itself into her quiet demeanor. Though her hair
had turned platinum, it was still shiny and strong. For what she lacked in height,
she made up for it in presence. Though she took a little more time to ponder
things, she could still orate a story and be the center of attention. After the
war and finding herself in the predicament of being a single mother, she
devoted herself to being a dutiful mother to her son, Ichiro, Aiko’s father.
    “Grandma?” asked Aiko.
    “Is everything okay? Oh I
hope it isn’t anything with your father!”
    Aiko suddenly asked herself
why everyone in her family would always think something was wrong with someone
in the family. She quickly interjected reassuringly, “Oh no, nothing like that,
Grandma.”
    Her grandmother was quickly
reassured and finally added, “Good, for a moment there, you had me worried. It
is not often that you would call me unless it was my birthday or something. Why
did you call, Aiko?"
    There was a pause on the
phone. “I wanted to ask you about… Grandpa,” replied Aiko as her voice trailed
away.
    It had been a while since
anyone had ever directly asked about her late husband. Not a day goes by that
Minami didn’t think about her husband, Hiroshi, who would have been the
patriarch of the Satoh line. She was the only person left alive who knew him
personally and intimately, aside from her own younger siblings.
    “Grandpa… What exactly do
you want to know?” asked Minami.
    Another pause came and went
and with her curiosity leading the charge, Aiko blurted out, “Everything,
before I lose the chance.”
    Her granddaughter was
insightful, Minami thought. “Before I lose the chance,” said her granddaughter
and Minami knew what this meant. For decades, Minami moved on with her life,
accepting the fate that had been dealt to her after World War II. She struggled
and persevered for most of her life. Now in her senior years, she spent much of
her time alone. Though she may have