One of the finest people I have known in my life has passed. She lived a long and fruitful life, part of which involved me and my selfishness returning her immeasurable generosity and kindness with excruciatingly painful rudeness. Yet, she still responded with warmth and openness, right to the end.
I can’t go into details of my friend–assuming friend is an acceptable term to use for someone who was more like a parent–nor reveal her name or much about her, because her family is a humble one, and would not appreciate it. But I was delighted that she lived to be a centenarian, which I would not have dreamed to be possible, and that she stayed as sharp as ever while doing so.
I’ll always remember her with deep fondness, love and appreciation for the enormous impact she had on my life, and I will cherish her memory, particularly our discussions about Japan’s first-ever prisoner of war camp in Matsuyama to house those captured in the Russo-Japanese War, the Kiso River and her experiences during the barbaric wartime bombing of Tokyo and the flowers of Edo. But there was much, much more, too. I stayed as close as I could over the years without becoming a nuisance to her and her family. My dear friend, my second mother, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I wish I had echoed your kind thoughtfulness and generosity. You were the most precious of jewels.
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