Day 14 – San Francisco, CA

Tell the people that you love that you love them.  That’s the take away from day 14.  My arrival in San Francisco was the 1 part of my trip that I was worried about.  On Sunday night I boarded a plane in Denver that left at 1am Mountain Standard time on a red-eye to JFK in New York.  Once I arrived in New York I had a 1 hour lay over and then I hopped onto a plane to San Francisco.  I was really worried about getting to San Francisco and being exhausted, drained, and in a bad mood.  I was pleasantly surprised when the EXACT opposite happened!

Upon my arrival I asked someone how to get into town and I was directed to take the BART to Powell Street.  Done.  Then I hopped on a street car (trolley? what’s the difference?) down to Fisherman’s Wharf.  By this time I was HUNGRY!  So I walked around and found a place called ‘Sally’s Famous Fishwich’.  I later found out that it wasn’t all that famous.  Anyways, I ordered a giant fried fish sandwich and saw down outside to eat it and take in the scenery.

It was crowded and I felt bad having an entire picnic table to myself, so when I saw a couple looking for a place to seat I waved at them and asked them to join me.  They did and we started up a very pleasant conversation.  Turns out they were visiting the United States for the 1st time from Japan.  They had arrived in San Francisco a few days prior and had taken in all of the typical tourist sites.  They said that everyone they had met had been very nice and they were looking forward to going to New York this weekend for a few days before heading home.

The conversation then turned to my story and as I started to explain the 29 Days Until 29 journey and I saw quick change in my new found friend’s mood.  When I finished my ‘stump speech ‘(which I’ve gotten REALLY good at over the past 2 weeks!) they spoke to each other in Japanese for a moment (side note: beautiful language) then turned back and started talking.  I then found out that the husband’s parents had passed away from cancer.  I don’t know how long ago, but it was clear when he was speaking that it was a topic that was still emotional to discuss.  I told him that I was sorry to hear that and asked how losing his parents had affected him.

He paused again, said something to his wife in Japanese, then looked me straight in the eye and said, “I tell my children that I love them more.”

While that’s a message that I have heard echoes of during the past 2 weeks, this was the 1st time that it’s been stated so blatantly and clearly.  I paused for a moment and then simply said, ‘thank you’.  We finished our sandwiches, engaged in some idle chit chat about the harbor seals, and went about our day.  His statement stuck with me all day and I extrapolated it to a much broader message.

It’s important for the people you love to know that you love them.  I certainly forget to do that every so often.  I find myself assuming that people know how I feel.  I don’t always articulate my feelings well.  I bottle things up, put up walls, and get defensive.  I need to work on that.

Dad, I love you.