The Day the Twins Walk Toward Their Separate Worlds

I have four-year-old twins in preschool.

Their life at their current school
will end this coming Monday.
Starting in the spring, they will begin a new life at different schools.

At their current school, they were in the same class.
The two of them have always spent their time in the same place.

From the day they were born until today,
they have been beings who were never apart, not even for a moment.

That will change at their new school, where they will be split into two classes.
From now on, they will never be in the same class again.

Starting in April,
they will head to their own separate places for the first time.

Looking at the calendar, the two of them
understand perfectly well that Monday will be their last day at school.

While looking at the calendar, the two of them said,

"We want to write letters to everyone."

There are 24 friends in their class,
and they have feelings they want to deliver to each and every one of them.

Using the hiragana they just learned,
they wrote with all their might, one character at a time.

"Thank you for playing with me for the past year♡"

A message they thought of together.
It took a lot of time to write just one.

But then, their true feelings spilled out.

"Writing for everyone is just too hard."


They really want to give one to everyone.
But they realize that writing 24 of them is a big task.


"Should we just give them to the friends we were closest to?"
When I asked that,

"I don't want that. I want to give them to everyone."

They decided to talk it over
to figure out what to do.


After thinking for a while, the younger twin said,

"I know! Let's make copies!"

Then, the older twin said,

"That's a great idea! Let's put stickers on the copied letters!"


That was the brilliant plan they came up with.

On that one sheet they worked so hard to write,
the two of them added a message.

"To everyone in Class 〇〇,
Thank you for playing with me all year long♡
I love you all.
From 〇〇〇 From 〇〇〇"

They printed the completed letter
onto postcards.


Looking at the 24 finished letters,


"Let's draw pictures in the empty spaces!"

the older twin said,
and the two of them drew pictures freely.

Then, they both started putting on stickers.

"〇〇-kun likes dinosaurs, right?"
"I think 〇〇-chan likes strawberries."

Remembering everyone in their class,
they carefully placed them one by one.

And so, the letters that were uniquely theirs were finished.

I did wonder a little about the printing,
but it was something they thought of and decided on😌


They put their hearts into finishing them,
and they are such warm letters😊😊

They also thought together about
how to hand them out.

"I want to give them out during the end-of-day meeting."
"That's a great idea! Let's do that!"

They decided on this right away☺️

They didn't keep the letters all together,
but split them into 12 each, putting them into separate bags.

And so they wouldn't forget,
they tucked them gently into their bags😊

I'm sure that when they hand them out on Monday,

they will feel a little shy,
a little sad,
but I think there will be happy feelings mixed in, too.

I don't know how much they truly understand
the meaning of saying goodbye.

Even though these letters were copied,
the "thank you" and "I love you"
will surely reach their classmates.

This is the twins' first step.

The two who were always together
are preparing for the day they will spend time in separate places for the first time,
and they are saying "thank you"
to everyone in the place they have known until now.


They both understand well
that they are going to new kindergartens.

They will make their own friends,
and expand their own worlds.

Days that are not the same are about to begin.

Being apart is lonely.
But that is not all there is to it.

A new world is opening up for each of them.

No matter where they are,
the fact that they are twins will never change,

so they can share their loneliness.
And they can share their happiness with each other.

We hope that from now on, too,
they will continue to have fun in their own way.

This is their first step.

And it is the beginning
of many steps to come.☺️

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