“50s☆Age-Gap Marriage Challenge Life in Progress!” ~Introduction~ 💛 A life rebirth story of overcoming the age barrier and reclaiming oneself: JAPANESE-SAISEI LIFE (Life, Reborn)
~Greetings~
Hello, nice to meet you,
I'm Mirai♪
Thank you so much for visiting this page
out of the many articles on note.
In 2021,
I returned to Japan for the first time in 23 years
and started my second life.
A 50-something like Urashima Taro
happened to meet Ken, a man 24 years my junior,
and the five years since then
have been spent living
every day like a roller coaster.
This is a story of the twists and turns
of those five years,
from long-distance dating, living together, breaking up, and reconciling, to finally getting married.
However,
this is not just a story about romance.
I'm already too old...
The age barrier cannot be overcome,
I was convinced of that.
This is a story of rebirth where I,
who once stepped down from being the protagonist of my own life,
started walking on my own two feet once again and reclaimed my life.
Having returned to Japan,
the townscapes that had changed,
the lifestyles that had changed,
and above all,
the fact that I myself had changed.
What on earth will happen to me
in my life in Japan from now on?
While carrying that anxiety and fear
of not being able to see the future at all,
somewhere in my heart,
I kept asking myself.
How do I really want to live
this one and only life?
Getting lost many times,
stopping many times,
and shedding tears many times,
even so,
I kept searching for the voice of my own heart.
And if you, right now,
somewhere in your heart,
feel that it's too late,
that it might be impossible,
or that your life might just
end as it is,
if you feel that way,
please, I want you to read this story.
Life can
from the very place you thought it was over
in an unexpected way
start moving again.
Just like it did for me,
an ordinary person in my 50s
who you can find anywhere.
~Prologue~
~The Day My Second Life Started~
April 2021, before landing at Narita Airport
With only ten minutes left
until landing at Narita Airport,
the nostalgic scenery of Japan
was gradually drawing closer
from the small window of the plane.
I was quietly about to put an end
to twenty-three years of life abroad.
I can finally go home.
Along with that sense of relief,
deep in my chest,
a single phrase came back to me.
It was
the words my late father said to me
when I was ten years old.
“Your mother
suddenly passed away at thirty-six.
Human life is fleeting.
So, live it to the fullest.”
As a young child,
amidst the sorrow of suddenly losing my mother,
I could not
honestly accept my father's words.
But now that I am in my fifties,
the weight of those words
was finally beginning to resonate
deep within my heart.
This return to Japan
was not just about coming back to Japan.
For me,
it was the beginning of a second life
to reclaim my life
into my own hands once again.
No longer
living to meet someone else's expectations,
and no longer
entrusting my life
to the pain of the past,
but looking at myself again
and living a life without regrets.
That was the day I decided.
Because I
had learned the fleeting nature of life
at the age of ten.
~The Day I Learned the Fleeting Nature of Life~May 1980.
I will never forget it.
It was the morning of the day
before Golden Week began.
My mother, as always,
said to me
with a gentle smile,
“Mirai,
let's go to the beach and play
during the holidays starting tomorrow.”
I answered with a pounding heart,
“Yes, Mom, I'm looking forward to it.”
My mother's voice at that time,
her expression,
the atmosphere in the house,
even now,
I remember them strangely well.
However,
that promise would never
be fulfilled.
Early the next morning,
the phone rang.
My grandmother, while holding the receiver,
was surprised by something,
and the next moment,
she collapsed in tears on the spot.
Even as a child, I understood.
Something had happened
to my mother.
But, no way...
I had only spent ten years with her.
My beloved mother,
and now I had to say
goodbye to her?
I could never
have imagined such a thing.
A week later,
my father, who had divorced when I was four,
returned from overseas in a hurry.
My father attended my mother's funeral
with his foreign partner.
When I saw that sight,
an indescribable emotion
surged in my young heart.
My father was completely haggard.
The words he said to me,
I didn't understand everything.
However,
in my heart,
thoughts akin to a scream
were swirling.
What on earth
is this person saying?
Because you
didn't cherish Mom,
Mom worked all the time,
pushed herself too hard,
and maybe that's why she was sick.
Facing my mother's death,
I was filled with deep sorrow
and anger with nowhere to go.
And at that time,
as a child, I
made a vow to myself.
I don't want to leave this world
like my mother,
on the concrete of a cold night road,
without anyone by my side.
I definitely want to
live a life where I am held by someone I love,
and told,
“You did your best,
I love you.”
I want to live a life
that is loved,
a life where I can leave this world
while being missed by others.
Yes,
I wished for it strongly in the depths of my heart.
Since that day,
there has always been one question
in my life.
How should a person live
so they don't have regrets at the end?
What does it mean
to be loved?
What does it mean
to live true to yourself?
Heartbreak,
divorce,
illness,
loneliness,
while taking many detours,
I have continued to search for the answer.
And now,
in my fifties,
I finally think,
Life
can be started over
at any age.From any point,
anyone,
any number of times,
life can be restarted.
I feel now, finally,
that I may have met
the final partner of my life.
That is how I feel.