The Age of Uncertainty

When will there be harvests for each of us? Well, God only knows... Our future is always with uncertainty.

As I was looking for Japanese seasonings in an Asian supermarket in Chinatown, an Japanese woman in early middle age suddenly talked to me, in strong Hiroshima dialect. "What are you looking for? You must buy sushi vinegar! As for sushi vinegar, Marukan is the best. Don't buy Mi**kan!!"

After that, she wouldn't stop talking... At first, I was little bit surprised, but soon I realized that her stories were very interesting. I started to listen to her.

She, a scholar, talked about every efforts she made, numerous frustrations she faced and signs of success she felt these days.

Eventually, we (mainly she) had talked with each other for more than an hour in the supermarket's aisle.

The most fascinating story was about love. Yes, she, a single, is in love now. She talked about when she found her boyfriend, how she got him and how gentle/wonderful/funky/sexy he was, with her greatest enthusiasm. She said "I feel like the past 20 years of struggle were there to meet him. I think...he is an angel. I never imagined that I could meet someone like him in this age."

She was shining when she talked about him. And I was moved by the fact that we can fall in love regardless of our age, though we don't know "when." I recalled an old Japanese TV commercial; "Love is not fireworks of the good old days."

If you are 90 years old now, you can possibly fall in love when you'll be 99.

Cheers for uncertainty, for the necessity of hope!!!