To My Adolescent Son ~With Love♡~

The other day, there was the junior high school graduation ceremony😊

My eldest son graduated safely🌸
Compared to elementary school, the three years of junior high school
really went by in a flash.

It was just as the senior moms had told me.

Even so...
Looking back on my son's junior high school life,
so many things happened...

────

While looking back on these three years,
I wrote down my overflowing feelings as a letter to my son.

I would be happy if you would read it😌

To you, at 15 years old

Three years ago, the junior high school entrance ceremony.
What I remember is your dissatisfied face.

All of your close friends were in the class next door.
Since there was no one you were particularly close to
in your own class...

On the "Today's Thoughts" sheet handed out after the entrance ceremony,
you honestly wrote "The class is the worst,"

and the homeroom teacher
was worried, asking,
"Is this child going to be okay?"😓

It was a start like that, but
you made new friends right away,
and your school life was fulfilling.

You, who are always full of confidence and positive,
showed a weak side after summer vacation.

Perhaps it was difficult to switch
from a lazy summer vacation to the second semester,
and just going to school was all you could manage.

It was a soccer club team you had begged me,
"I really want to join!" to get into,
but you started skipping it, saying,
"I don't have the confidence to continue. I can't keep up."

At that time, your usual confidence had disappeared,
and it was very painful to watch.

When I asked, "Can you talk about it?"

you said, "I'll talk to you, Mom," so
I was inwardly very relieved and happy.

Dealing with knee pain,
not being able to play as you wanted to.

The difficulty of balancing it with school life.

Thinking that if you were going to quit,
it would be better to do it before buying the full set of winter jerseys,
you thought about the money and were considerate,
saying, "Let's quit now."

Thank you for talking to me.
At that time, all I could do
was listen to you, but...

When I secretly consulted your coach,
he was so kind and encouraging to you.

After practice that day, you came home and immediately
"I'm going to keep playing soccer!!"you said,
and seeing your face as you happily declared it,
with 100% of your confidence restored,made me truly happy.

I was so happy.

I was deeply grateful from the bottom of my heart
that a trusted adult other than family
was watching over you by your side.

I wonder what magic words the coach said to you...?

Even after that, you were troubled by injuries,
and you couldn't really play at full strength consistently...
but thanks to being blessed with great teammates,

the team became an important place for you,

and soccer became something
you couldn't live without.
Everyone's peak as an athlete is different.

I believe your best is still yet to come!
I hope you can enjoy playing soccer again

when you become a high school student.

••✼┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈✼••

In your second year of junior high,
you got a girlfriend, and a new world opened up for you.

You looked so happy and joyful...
and for once, you talked to us about her without hiding anything.

"Is love really that great?"
It feels like a lie that you asked me that a year ago😳

I'm glad you found someone you like.
Mom was happy too.

But...

Your late-night outings started getting out of hand.
We warned you and talked to you about it many times, didn't we?

At that time, nothing I said reached you,
and I watched over you feeling half-resigned.

Combined with your rebellious phase,
"I don't want you nagging me about everything"
"I'm not doing anything wrong anyway"
is what you used to say.

I'm sure I was annoying.
I know that, but
I was just so worried about you,
I couldn't just let it slide.

When you're a little older,
I'd like to ask you
what you think about those times.

••✼┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈✼••

In your third year of junior high, from the very start,
you happily said, "This is the best class ever!!"

You always enjoyed school events to the fullest, but
you were especially fired up during your final year.

School trip executive committee chair,
class representative,
sports festival cheering squad,
(though you said you left the role of squad leader
to a friend, as expected)

Taking on this and that, I was worried
that you were over capacity!?
It was to that extent...

You really worked so hard.
Standing at the center of your class, you looked like you were
enjoying it more seriously than anyone else.

I'm glad you made so many memories.
Don't ever forget them, even when you become an adult.
Because those are a wonderful treasure.

••✼┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈✼••

You even took a break from soccer,
and gradually shifted into exam mode.

It seems you broke up with your girlfriend on your own,
and although you didn't say much,
you did at least tell me about it.

You started spending more time at home on weekends,
and we started talking more.
Is your rebellious phase finally coming to an end...?

As for studying,
it was hard to flip your motivation switch.
It made me anxious watching you, but...

The days leading up to the exams felt so long,
but now that they're finally over, I'm relieved.
Now you can become a high school student!

Your middle school life went by in a flash.

Everything you experienced as my eldest son
was also a first for me as a parent.

Every story you told me was fresh,
and I was always so curious.

Getting called into school
for acting out too much
is a good memory...
maybe? (No, that's not true)

Perhaps there were worries or painful things
you couldn't tell your mother.

I don't know everything about you anymore.
But I will always be watching over you.

You still have your flaws,
and there are plenty of things I want you to fix😤

You really need to do something
about being loose with time!!

And could you be a little
kinder to your younger brother and sister?

I really want you to grow more in those areas!!

Well, I know I just have to watch over you in the long run...
Because you are you, through and through.

I accept all of you.

I will always cherish you,
just as you are, forever.

You are always surrounded by many friends,
laughing and looking so happy.

You are someone who celebrates your friends' successes
and their amazing qualities as if they were your own.

Because you are someone who truly values your friends,

I believe you will continue to be loved by those around you,
and that you will grow
alongside wonderful companions.

Your future is bright✨
I believe that.

Congratulations on your graduation.

From Mom

The reason I decided to write this letter was because of
the song my eldest son's class sang
at their 9th-grade choir competition,

Angela Aki's
"Letter: Greetings to My 15-Year-Old Self"

This song was released in 2008.
I was already an adult by then.

I had listened to it thinking, "What a nice song,"
but I had never actually read the lyrics.

Inspired by my eldest son's choir competition,
I listened to it again while reading the lyrics.

Listening to it while thinking about my eldest son, who is exactly 15 now,
brought up so many emotions,
and I was moved to tears.

It really is a wonderful song🧡

Even with the same song,
the way you feel about it changes
as your own perspective in life changes.

For the past six months, it has been playing in my heart
as my secret theme song for my eldest son☺️

At the graduation ceremony, too,
a music box version of
Letter: Greetings to My 15-Year-Old Self was playing,

and I burst into tears😭

It was a truly wonderful graduation ceremony🌸

Do you all have
a song that makes you tear up?

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