You Deserve Someone Good

Murray DUKE & MINE Keiko

Life-changing encounters can take place suddenly and unexpectedly. MINE Keiko had an appointment with a friendly couple she knew on the day she separated from her boyfriend. The couple encouraged the depressed Keiko, saying, "You deserve someone good!" Keiko murmured, "Why don't you introduce me to someone, then?" Little did she know her words would change her fate.

The couple introduced Keiko to a Canadian man called Murray DUKE, and soon they arranged to meet each other. At that point Murray had not even seen Keiko's picture. He went to the meeting place early. "Whenever a cute girl passed by, I thought, 'Is that her?' or when a girl who was not my type went by, I thought, 'I hope that isn't her,' my heart was racing," Murray recalls.

While Murray and Keiko's parents have a good relationship now, when Keiko's father first met Murray, he did not say anything. "My parents were perplexed by my foreign boyfriend," says Keiko. Murray described his parents' reaction to Keiko by saying, "When we went to Canada together, there were no problems. On the contrary, they liked Keiko very much and when we were leaving for Japan they wanted her to stay, but not me!"

Murray is working as a project manager in the marketing division of a leading foreign corporation, and Keiko, who likes talking to people, works in her ideal job as an interpreter. The couple, who are blessed in many ways, married in May 2006. They held the wedding ceremony at Keiko's local shrine and a wedding party in Tokyo, but their perspectives on the wedding were quite different.

To cap off their wedding, they held a unique wedding party that was neither Japanese style nor Canadian style. Everything was bilingual so that guests from both cultures could enjoy them. They are continuing this unique style on into their marriage.

Breakfast time is an example. While Murray is enjoying toast, cereal and coffee, Keiko is having rice with natto (fermented soybeans) and ocha (Japanese green tea). "If someone looks at this, they may think we are an odd couple," Murray says. "But for us, we are having breakfast together ordinarily. This is just a natural part of our daily life," Murray says.

When the couple do housework, Keiko is responsible for cooking and washing while Murray does the cleaning. The couple make it a habit to talk about any questions they have. "As a Japanese, I am apt to keep silent after quarrels, but Murray tenaciously says, 'It is important that we understand each other by talking.' This is quite true," says Keiko. When the couple reconcile, they always say, "Now, we understand each other a bit more."