A story of loss and hope.

Yesterday, August 6, was the 76th anniversary of the first atomic bomb, dropped over Hiroshima, Japan.

It not only caused unbelievable suffering, damage and death, it marked the beginning of the atomic age, of living with the possibility of human extinction from warfare. It also helped bring about the end of World War 2.

If you’ve never paid much attention to that day, you can read 9 harrowing eyewitness accounts from survivors of that day HERE. I would also recommend John Hersey’s book, Hiroshima.

Of course, we’ve been watching the Olympic Games in Tokyo for a couple of weeks now. Sunday marks the end of these games, shaped by the restrictions and fear of Covid-19.

But there’s another story I want to share, from my friend, Harry Smith of NBC News.

It’s called Kamome and it will give you hope today:

KAMOME (NBC Peacock) from MUKI PICTURES LLC on Vimeo.

My oldest friend, Hiro, is Japanese. My younger sister lived in Japan for several years. She survived the earthquake in Kobe in 1995, which killed more than 6,000 and left tens of thousands homeless. Hiro helped my sister so she was not among them.

I hope you get to visit Japan at some point, when the pandemic is far behind us. I hope you get to experience the beauty and the culture and get to know some of the people you encounter along your way.

They have the same hopes and dreams we do. They feel the same grief as we do when struggling with loss.

And perhaps, because of Hiroshima, and the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011, we will recognize the ways in which our nations are linked and use our shared losses to become ever closer.