The Moon Rock Was Just a Rock—Memories from 55 Years Ago Found in My Parents' Closet

It was, in any case, hot.
While standing in a long line, I remember thinking, 'I can't wait to see the “Moon rock.”'
I remember thinking things like that.

The other day, while I was tidying up the closet at my parents' house in Shimane,
I found a stamp album containing the stamps I used to be obsessed with collecting,
tucked away inside an old cardboard box.

As I flipped through the pages intending to get rid of it,
I found a ticket stub
tucked into one of the pockets for stamp sheets!

When I took it out, I saw it was a ticket stub for the Japan World Exposition in 1970.
It was in better condition than I expected, and the colors hadn't faded much at all.

It was as if it had been sleeping in the stamp album for over 50 years.

Looking at them, I found myself remembering that summer.

I was in the fourth grade of elementary school when I went to the Expo.
My father, who was a teacher, had taken his students to the venue in the spring,
and wanting to show it to his own children as well,
he took my sister, my mother, and me to Osaka during summer vacation.

What I remember is standing in a long, snaking line for over an hour in the sweltering heat.
And then, finally, entering the U.S. Pavilion.
The main attraction was the “Moon rock.”That very “Moon rock” brought back by Apollo 12.

Inside the grand display case was nothing more than
a simple “rock,” like one you might find rolling along a riverbank.
As an elementary school student, I didn't really understand
how much value it held.
I was just swept along by the crowd and left the pavilion.

The other place we entered was the Soviet Pavilion.
We waited in line for that one too, and finally managed to get in.
But I hardly remember what I saw there.

In the end, those were the only two pavilions we entered.
I thought later, 'Why was I so fixated on such popular pavilions?'
It surely would have been more fun
to go around and see many of the less crowded ones.

And there is one more event I cannot forget.

It happened on the way back from the Expo, while we were traveling by train from Osaka to Nara.
Confused by the unfamiliar train, my father and I boarded first,
and my mother and sister missed it.

“What if I never see them again?”
As the doors closed and I watched the figures of my mother and sister
left behind on the platform fade into the distance, that is what I thought.

Of course, that didn't happen; my father and I got off at the next station,
and we were able to reunite safely on the next train, which arrived in less than 10 minutes.

I wonder what my father was thinking at that moment.

My mother didn't really like traveling to begin with, and on top of that,
it was a long journey from Shimane to Osaka and Nara with a 6-year-old and a 10-year-old.
It must have been incredibly difficult for her.

The Expo ticket stub that came out of the stamp album,
it reminded me of that summer.

Like a time capsule,
it was a memory of a summer 55 years ago, sleeping quietly in the back of the closet.
Today, I am writing it down.

Thank you for reading this far.
I would be happy if you came back to read my future posts.