Nick Reid

I Was a good son: A Conversation with Nick Reid *Seth: You grew up between Japan and the United States, then spent almost three decades in Australia. How did that shape you?* **Nick:** I was born in Massachusetts, but we left when I was two and my first language was Japanese. I grew up in Tokyo and spent summers in the mountains at Lake Nojiri. Later, I moved to Australia at seventeen and stayed for twenty-nine years. Being bicultural, I was always asked whether I felt American or Japanese. Australia became a third place where I could just be myself and bring out the best parts of both sides. *Seth: What eventually brought you back to the United States?* **Nick:** After 9/11, my wife and I decided it was time to be closer to family. My parents had already moved to California, and America started to come into focus differently for me. It took two years to sell the travel business, two restaurants, and our house. Between the exchange rate and what we gave up, I estimate the move cost us around two million dollars. But the purpose was family. *Seth: What did giving up that life make possible?* **Nick:** I rebuilt professionally, but more importantly, I got to be there as my parents aged. I drove them to appointments, did their shopping, and eventually stepped down from my work to become their caretaker. I asked them to live with us, but they said, “Nick, we love you. We want to be close, but not that close.” So they lived about twenty minutes away. *Seth: What do you remember most about caring for them?* **Nick:** The time together was priceless. Driving them to doctors, I heard stories about their youth and how they first met that I never would have heard otherwise. People sometimes say, “That’s terrible, you had to look after your parents.” I don’t see it that way. That was my fortune. I was allowed to. I was chosen to. *Seth: What does the place in Japan where they now rest mean to you?* **Nick:** My dad rebuilt a cabin at Lake Nojiri, the place tied to so many of my strongest childhood memories. Their ashes are there now. It isn’t a graveyard or a gravestone. It’s a place we can return to, and one my sons and future generations can know. I feel lucky they are resting somewhere so meaningful to our family. *Seth: What value sits underneath this story for you?* **Nick:** Family. I did it for family, and I would do it again. Knowing I was going to give up income, identity, and the life I had built, I would still make the same choice. I hope my sons saw that lesson unfold. For me, it’s family, giving back, and honor. Looking at that Dear World photograph, I see the emotion of missing my parents, but also knowing I did a good job when I was called upon.