Before It's Too Late

I was born in Paris, France at 3:00 PM on September 6th 1939 to a French father and a Russian mother only six days after Hitler's Nazis invaded Poland. Within six (6) months my parents travel to Shanghai, China where my mother, believe it or not, has just accepted a position with Macy's Department Store. This trip to China sets the stage for me, now just one year old, to be taken again by my parents to travel this time to Kobe, Japan in 1940 to be introduced to my new Grandparents. So begins my adventure as my parents spend a month in Kobe, and then return to Shanghai in order to "put their affairs in order" before returning to Japan to Join me, her parents and my grandparents.. Then the Pearl Harbor attack takes place and they' find themselves stranded in China while I'm stranded in Japan with my grandparents who are in their mid-sixties, now with the responsibility of taking care of their one (1) year old grandson. I can only imagine what their thoughts were as they considered what lay ahead. This book charts my experiences, close calls, and adventures for the next ten (10) years while living in war-torn and post-war Japan. I have also been blessed with a vivid memory making it possible for me to relive many of my early experiences, to the point that the more I wrote the more details I remembered. My research has been limited to checking spelling and certain geographic facts, and I'm writing this book as seen through the eyes of a ten (10) year old, although I'm now in my mid-sixties. Nevertheless, I have tried to be as accurate as possible and stand by this narrative.