At the end of last year, I abruptly announced that I would be taking a break from my blog and then closed it without much explanation.
The reason was simple: I was going to be away from home for a while, and it felt wiser to stay quiet.
Now that I am finally heading back to Japan, I feel it is safe enough to share the last moments of this journey.
Last night, as I looked out at the city lights, I realized it would be the last time—at least for now.
That thought made the view feel especially profound.
I had felt slightly feverish, but by morning my temperature was back to normal.
The sore throat and cough had also eased considerably.
I managed to call an Uber to JFK on my own without any trouble.
The driver was a sincere-looking young man who told me he had come from Nepal and had been living in New York for four years.
It must be incredibly hard to make a life in a place like this, yet he seemed to be doing his best.
He also said he had many friends in Japan.
“Japan is safe,” he told me.
“New York is dangerous.”
Staying in New York long-term would surely be exhausting, yet I cannot say I never want to return.
Still, that feeling probably exists only because I am on the plane right now.
Once I breathe the familiar air of Japan again, I suspect New York will quickly fade from my mind.
I may be a little too old now to broaden my horizons as much as I once hoped.
But at last, I was able to set foot on the land where I was born.
That alone allowed me to bring a long-unresolved chapter of my life to a close.
This journey was one in which I was able to complete something profoundly important to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment