Sachiko's Generosity

On Monday March 3, I went to visit Sachiko in the afternoon. She picked me up to go to her apartment in Ferney-Voltaire in France, just outside of Geneva. I had met Sachiko at the dinner Terri offered to a group of women of GWIT, one of the associations that sponsored the panel about the upcoming BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries where I was one of the speakers. She had asked a question directed at me during the Q & A period. I recognized Sachiko (not her real name, for privacy) at the dinner and sat with her to escape the noise and confusion of the party.

Sachiko retired last year after 25 years with the International Labor Organization. Because of my long time interest in labor, a minor of my doctorate, we had a lot to talk about. It was my turn to ask questions from her who was quite disgruntled with what she saw as corruption of ILO’s principle of neutrality. (By the way, Osama Bin Laden has written about this kind of corruption.) ILO is supposed to be an intermediary between governments, the private sector (capitalists) and workers. The power imbalance is just too great. Principles are corrupted when capitalists and governments that represent them want to control labor conditions—a classic!

Besides social justice, another love of Sachiko’s is her cats. We hit it off here. She told me about Malice, her male cat with just a tiny almost no tail because he comes from an island off the coast of England where this breed lives, and Tomi, her elderly female cat. Of course I told her about my own companion, Whitney, and her caretaker, Carol, and their loving relationship.

I was interested in visiting Sachiko’s apartment because she said it was in an old building. I imagined a French or Swiss centuries old building and was curious about its charms. (I see myself taking many pictures of houses I find particularly attractive.) I wanted to visit her cats also, as I miss Whitney and certainly enjoy meeting other people’s cats. We made the arrangement through email and Sachiko picked me up in her Toyota at 2 p.m.

The drive was not far. Ferney-Voltaire is perhaps 15 minutes on the highway from Coppet-Founex when traffic is clear. To my disappointment, the apartment was in an older but modern, built after the war, a run of the mill apartment building; except that it was in France, and in the town where Voltaire, quite an aristocrat and a man of all trades, had lived over 20 productive years before his death.

There was one good thing about the flat , the view. The apartment had a far view of Lake Leman and the Alps, including the all present Mont Blanc. It had a large balcony, living and dining rooms, large kitchen, two bedrooms and lots, and lots of closet space. The bathroom and the toilet are separate rooms; there is no toilet in the bathroom. Different.

Sachiko served Japanese green and rice tea, and rice crackers. We talked while the cats, especially Malice, came and went, sometimes looking for caresses behind the ears and sometimes just jumping on Sachiko’s lap to make sure I understood who was the boss. Tomi was shyer than Malice, so I could not establish a relationship with her. She kept to herself, napping. I learned about Taro, Tomi’s companion and Sachiko’s favorite cat who had died a few years ago. Taro, which in Japanese means “first son”, was Sachiko’s first cat. He was a beautiful tabby. There are many drawings and paintings of Taro and Tomi on the walls of the apartment. One of them is especially sweet, Taro embracing Tomi, a position that they often took, Sachiko revealed.

As I asked so many questions about her life, impressed with her being an American educated Japanese woman who worked internationally most of her professional life, I found out that Sachiko has been dedicating her retired time to writing. She first gave me a book of stories about Taro and Tomi, with a subtitle My Feline Son and Daughter. Then, she brought out a semi-autobiographical novel which I read practically nonstop. I was enchanted with Sachiko’s “go get it” attitude, one that I have to work a bit more in my own life… The story is very interesting but I will not go into details here.

She brought me back home before dinner and after we walked through the town of Ferney-Voltaire, very charming, of course, in particular because of its adoration of their “patriarche”, Voltaire. I loved the outing and the setting.

That evening I kept thinking about Sachiko leaving in a week to go to Japan for five weeks. I sent her an email on Tuesday morning, March 4, my sister’s birthday, with a proposal. I would take care of Tomi and Malice when she would be away. I would pay expenses of electricity and phone, and if she wanted it also some rent.

Instead of writing back, she called me on the phone. She said I could have her apartment but that she preferred to leave the cats on the farm as already arranged because there was a vet on premises. (Taro had become sick under the care of a cat sitter and never recovered.) This was an even better deal, I thought, less responsibility and more freedom to travel about. I was stunned. I could not believe my luck: an apartment in a small French town, with a Saturday market and a view of the Alps! How generous and trusting of Sachiko!

She came on the same day to pick me up yet again. At her apartment she went over everything, giving me detailed instructions of how to handle the steel door with multiple locks (do not lose the keys because they cannot be replicated and it would cost a million euros to open it…), appliances, windows, the sun on the electric piano, etc., etc.
For three hours we did that and she brought me back to Founex.

The next day was Sachiko’s birthday. I found a perfect e-card to send her, a Japanese fan with a pond with swimming carps motif, and wrote “May life reward your generosity with health, love, and happiness.” She thanked me by email and sent more instructions.

I will spend a week in London and will be back to live in France from March 17 to April 17. For sure, I will have a great birthday celebration on April 18, thanking the marvelous gift from an almost total stranger. Thank you, Sachiko!