Tales from the Cafe

by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

“What have I got wrong? The child I was carrying could do nothing! I couldn’t even let it be born! It was my fault! I was only able to give that child seventy days of life! Only seventy days!” With a composed expression, he calmly waited for her to stop crying, and then said, “That child used its seventy-day-long life for your happiness.” He spoke gently, but with unwavering certainty. “If you remain devastated like this, then your child will have used those seventy days in vain.” His message was not one of empathy. He was pointing out a way Asami could change the way she thought about the grief that she was experiencing. “But if you try to find happiness after this, then this child will have put those seventy days toward making you happy. In that case, its life has meaning. You are the one who is able to create meaning for why that child was granted life. Therefore, you absolutely must try to be happy. The one person who would want that for you the most is that child.”