Pandoraspace

There is a scene from the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha, where the main character, Sayuri, who is clad in her beautiful kimono, stands under a cherry tree. As the wind blows, the cherry blossoms from the tree float in the air like snow. From the time I saw that scene, I promised myself that, one of these days, I would visit Japan to see the cherry blossoms.

More than the cherry blossoms, I also wanted to visit a dear friend in Japan. Once of these days, when I have permission to write about him, I will tell you all about this person who has known me since I was four years old and of the extraordinary life he lives.

I had hoped to visit Japan in April of this year. Unfortunately, for reasons beyond anyone’s control, a visit to Japan was not possible.

Since then, thoughts of my dear friend, cherry blossoms and Japan have been lost in the myriad of things I had to attend to at work and at home.

A few days ago, I had a mountain of paperwork to accomplish and family responsibilities to attend to. I was stressed and out of sorts. I had gone home ready to drop on my bed when I noticed a brown envelop on my dresser. The envelope was addressed to me but it did not indicate who had sent the package. To my surprise, the envelope contained a book, Cherry Blossoms of Kyoto, with photographs by Hidehiko Mizuno, Kayu Mizuno and Yasutaka Ogawa. It is a beautiful book and I felt very happy to receive it. I was even happier when I learned that my dear friend, who has been having many troubles of his own, remembered my cherry blossom obsession.

Perhaps someday soon I will see my dear friend and the cherry blossoms…