What Nostalgic Photos Taught Me: The Cities Where Our Children's Lives Began

What nostalgic photos taught me
― The cities where our children's lives began

Yesterday, on my smartphone,
a photo from several years ago suddenly popped up.

It was a photo from the day we celebrated
our daughter's graduate school completion as a family.

Gathered around the dining table,
we told each other, "You worked so hard to get this far," and
shared a time of laughter together.

The table was filled with
the children's favorite foods and homemade cake.

It is the usual scene of family celebrations
that has continued since the children were small.

That day was also
a major milestone,
marking the "completion of graduate school."

Days spent learning and talking with peers,
experiencing various things,
and taking on challenges.
It surely wasn't a time
filled only with fun.

Yet, thinking about how they chose that path themselves
and walked it this far,
as a parent, I felt nothing but joy
and pride.

In the photo, the dining table
preserves that family time
exactly as it was.

The happy feelings of that moment came back,
and I stared at the photo
for a while.


Then, the other day, I visited the city
where my son used to live for work for the first time in years.
It is the city where my son
spent his university and graduate school days.

Back then, we
visited this city many times.

Meeting up in front of the station.
The roads we walked together.
The shops we wandered into.

Before I knew it, that city,
along with the city where our daughter lived,
had become a place like "another home"
for our family.

Walking through that city after a long time,
everything I saw felt nostalgic,
and my heart felt gently warmed.

I also visited the nearby shrine
and paid my respects there first, just like that day.

That he was able to spend his student days
in this place with his peers.
The days spent learning, talking,
and finding his own path little by little
while struggling.

I felt a heartfelt sense of gratitude
that those times existed.

Back then, the shape of the future
was not yet visible, but
I believe the time spent in this city
became the foundation of my son's life.

When the children were small,
we often talked about it.
We wanted to give them as many
authentic experiences as possible,
and to plant many seeds
within our children.

Seeing the real thing
together.
Traveling.
Meeting, interacting, and engaging with various people.

We believed that each of those experiences
would sprout somewhere in their lives, spread their leaves,
bloom into flowers,
and eventually become something that supports
and nourishes their lives thereafter.
We shared these first-time experiences with them, and we enjoyed them even more than the children did.
The student experiences we heard about from our children broadened our perspectives and opened up our world.

The various worlds we learned about for the first time were fascinating,

and we are grateful for and happy about
the connections with various people.
And even now, every time we hear their stories, they are actively expanding and enriching the doors to our world.
When I recall their backs from those student days, I feel the mystery of the passage of time and

the preciousness of the years we have walked together.

Because of those long student years,
our children are now walking their own lives.
The two cities were places that
opened the doors to our children's lives.

The nostalgic photo and
the city I walked in after a long time.
With both overlapping,

gratitude for the path the children have walked
quietly spread in my heart.

Even if the city changes,
the time that flowed there
surely remains the same.

The place where children
began to walk their own lives
is surely a place that parents

will never forget for the rest of their lives.
The fact that we can now talk
as equal adults.
For that, too,

I hold a quiet feeling of gratitude.

To parents raising children now,
children will
surely find their own path someday,
and begin to walk their own lives.

And while watching that,
parents will surely think,
"Thank you for growing up this far."

I thought that graduating from parenting
would be lonely.
But in reality,
we were able to interact as adults, and a different kind of rich time was waiting for us.

Beyond the relationship of parent and child,
being able to talk as one person to another.
I feel that is
a great gift from life.

What the nostalgic photo taught me was
the preciousness of such ordinary yet
irreplaceable time.

I am sure that someday, a day will come when you feel this way.
There are difficult times, but please enjoy and savor the precious, fleeting time of raising children that only exists now.
And please look forward to the
wonderful gifts that come after graduating from parenting.

To our children,
thank you for being born to us.
Thank you for making me a mother and my husband a father.
I am truly glad that we could become a family with you.
Let's keep in touch.
From Mom

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