bbb stories
https://oyako.weblogs.jp/essay_e/
ja-JP2009-07-13T18:57:10+09:00My mother Asako Hirata
https://oyako.weblogs.jp/essay_e/2009/07/my-mother-asako.html
She's what they call an independent film editor, the kind that knocks back all-nighters with energy to spare. But you're not so young now, so take it easy. The sort of person that young directors send flowers to on theirr...
<div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;">She's what they call an independent film editor, the kind that
knocks back all-nighters with energy to spare. But you're not so young now, so
take it easy.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;">The sort of person that young directors send flowers to on theirr
birthday. Weren't you once called out to Thailand for some cameraman's
wedding?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;">Film, liquor and cigarettes are her constant companions. One of
those people who leaves on a whim to board the first available train at the
station, destination unknown. Even today I'm still shocked by a note you once
left me, “Mother's gone to Spain, back soon”.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;">Forever more. Half way through her forties she took classes and
learned how to swim. Now visions of pottery fill her head. The square plate you
gave me, frankly it's a little heavy. Please make me another when you've found
your way.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;">“We found you abandoned under a bridge” was her father's joke.
The version she served me from early childhood was “They were selling you at the
super in the canned goods section. They had a bargain sale going, so I picked
you up. I guess if there hadn't been a sale that day, you might have gone home
with a wealthier mother.” How twisted can you get, I mean really, where did you
cook that up?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;">She raised two daughters between work and home, but it never made
them uncomfortable. We had more nights without you than with. A stream of notes
opening with “Hello girls, how was school...," rice omelets decorated with
tulips drawn in ketchup, these things kept any notion of loneliness far from our
heads.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;">Then there was adolescence. Fights and lies, a time when I
couldn't deal with your life style. “Maybe I'll be a juvenile delinquent.” You
were laughing and said, “That'll be fine, just don't get caught.” It must have
been a hard time for you then, full of bitter things. Looking back I can see it
all for what it was, but back then I was in the middle of it. I think I must
have hurt you deeply so many, many times. And I am truly sorry for
this.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;">We went through so much together. So much. Little by little, I am
closing in on the age you had back then. And I too have a family now. I too am
a working mother. I think of you often now, as you were back then.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;">My mother. She's gone all soft on her first grandchild, my son,
now a year and nine months. I never thought I would see you buying toys and
kid's books, but there you are, a regular grandma. When I went into labor, you
held my hand through it all. You were the one who stayed by my side (watching
re-runs of Abarenbō Shōgun all the while, however...).</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span style="color: #030303;">The mother who made me. The mother I love.<br /><a href="http://oyako.weblogs.jp/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2009/07/13/nara.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href, '_blank', 'width=320,height=320,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img height="300" border="0" width="300" alt="Nara" title="Nara" src="https://oyako.weblogs.jp/essay_e/images/2009/07/13/nara.jpg" /></a>
<br /></span></div>bbb storiesoyakostaff2009-07-13T18:57:10+09:00