Final Chapter: Meaning in Life Emerges Later

A few years later...

Akari and Amaoto were walking slowly along the beach at dusk.

The waves rolled in and out repeatedly, gently erasing their footprints each time.

Amaoto went barefoot, running along the water's edge and laughing happily every time she found a small seashell.

“Mom! Look!”

The smile on Amaoto’s face as she ran over to me was the very smile I had thought I would never see again.

I think to myself.

If you look at life only in isolated moments, it can sometimes look like a failure.

I had always thought so, too.

Dropping out of university.

Giving birth to Amaoto.

Giving up Amaoto.

Back then, I kept blaming the past over and over, thinking, “If only I hadn’t made those choices.”

But what if even one of those events had been missing?

I might never have met Amaoto.

I might never have met Haru-san or Sumire-san.

I might never have learned that we cannot live alone, supported by the kindness of so many people.

Thinking about it that way, life is truly mysterious.

Events that I thought were “mistakes” at the time eventually lead to days, years later, when I can think, “I’m glad that happened.”

The tears of that day.

The nights I couldn't sleep.

The parting that felt like it would tear my heart apart.

None of it was in vain.

Perhaps there is no such thing as a wasted event in life.

What is important is not to try to find the answer in that very moment.

The answer to life is not taught on the day the event occurs, but by the future that lies ahead.

“Mom.”

Amaoto takes my hand.

Feeling that small warmth, I gazed at the horizon dyed by the setting sun.

My life, which I had thought was “over” back then, was not over at all.

It was just that a new story was about to begin.

The waves roll in and out quietly today, too.

And tomorrow, a new morning will come again.

Life, I am sure, is the same.

So, if there is anyone currently in the midst of suffering, please do not decide that “this is the end.”

Just as it was for me, you may simply not be able to see it yet, but there may be unexpected, loving events waiting for you in the future.

Meaning in life emerges later.

So, I like to think that there are even more wonderful things waiting for your life, too.

That is what I believe.