I watched a documentary on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I was reminded of just how amazing it is that Japan is where it is today despite having been defeated in World War II and having many of its large cities heavily damaged. I’ve mentioned how much I admire Japan’s collective work ethic before, so I won’t go on about that. So the other thing that went through my mind was my 6th-grade teacher, a Japanese nun from Nagasaki. The video talked about the Catholic community of the city and the destruction of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. It has since been rebuilt, but on display are still the statues and ruins that survived the atomic bomb. The most striking to me is what has come to be known as “Bombed Mary.” It’s the head of a Virgin Mary statue that survived the bombing but whose eyes were melted away. I wonder if my 6th-grade teacher remembers anything from that day and how her family may have been affected.