An Unforgettable Gift

He came to pick me up at the airport.

This was back when I had started working and we were in a long-distance relationship.

I flew to see him almost every month.

Since I worked for a company where I didn't know my time off until the last minute, I always paid full price for my tickets. Seventy thousand yen for a round trip. And I only stayed for one night. He never once came to visit me. When we broke up, I thought, 'I want my money back.' Haha.

Looking back now, I was so young.
It makes me happy to feel a bit fond of my younger self rather than just feeling bitter.

I was so blind... I sacrificed so much just because I wanted to see him.

By the way, I learned long after I grew up that 'relationships where the woman is the one who travels to see the man rarely work out.' (I acknowledge there are counterarguments.)

No, wait, that's not the point of the story.

Let's get back to the story.

There is a birthday present I can't forget.

After not seeing him for a while, I sat in the passenger seat and opened the dashboard for some reason. (Back then, I had a habit of opening the dashboard whenever I got into a car.)

And there was a square box inside.

It was still a bit early for my birthday, so I was completely caught off guard.
Because I wasn't expecting anything, my emotional reaction was huge.

'What!? What is this!?' I exclaimed involuntarily.

Thinking about it now, he might have been smiling a bit wryly.

It was like, "Oh, you opened it, didn't you?"
Perhaps he had intended to give it to me at a different time.

Without a care for how he felt,
"Did you put it in there thinking I would open the (dashboard)?"
I remember saying that so innocently.

Inside the box was a Baby-G. Not a digital one, but the analog dial type. I think the trend had already settled down by then.

—He really thought about me when he chose this.

Worrying, hesitating, and imagining, "Would this look good on her?"

The very feeling that he "chose this while thinking of me" was already enough to make me happy.

It was the best surprise I had ever received.

Come to think of it, there was also a time he gave me a poetry collection by Takashi Yanase called "Song of Hope." A single phrase in it left an impression on me.

"Next to despair is hope."

I felt like he gave it to me as a way to just quietly stand by me, since I was always complaining.

I thought I'd take the opportunity to look for it, but I've forgotten where I put it away. But I remember the feeling of my heart warming up when I received it.

I just remembered, there were also times he gave me silly gifts where I wondered, "Why?"

Like ore from Shosenkyo, or earrings even though my ears weren't pierced.

Even so, when I receive a gift, I feel happy thinking, "Oh, they chose this while thinking of me." It warms my heart.

Someone thinks of me, lines up the options, and chooses one.

Along with the feeling that they were thinking of me at that time,

I accept it all.

Thank you for that time.

#UnforgettableGift

I participated in the project by Kotara-san and Bunseki Mama-san.
Thank you for such a wonderful project.