So Long

So long, Toru... And even if you did not ask me, I will never forget you. Who could?

I can never forget you or Naoko, or Midori, or Reiko. I won't. I can’t. For you all taught me so much in death as in life in the two and a half months we spent together.

From you Toru, I learned so much about loving, giving, and taking, losing, and loving again. And what else? Hm. A lot. And that includes courage, integrity, responsibility, and hard work. From you, I also learned to deal with pain, and loss, and death.

I felt your pain when you knew Naoko was thinking of Kizuki while she was holding on to you. I understood your confusion when Midori kissed you in the rain, and felt your longing when you made it with Reiko after Naoko’s death. I cried with you when you cried because Naoko is dead.

You put death in an entirely different perspective for me when you said that death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life. How profound.

And just as I am saying farewell, I want you know that these are the most unforgettable lines I got from you:

No truth can cure the sadness we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness, can cure that sorrow. All we can do is see that sadness through to the end and learn something from it. ~ Toru Watanabe, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

But tell me, Toru, if we meet, if we ever meet, would you talk to me like you talk to Reiko? Would you write to me as you wrote to Naoko? Would you leave me too as you left Midori?

Despite your flaws and little imperfections, you are who you are, and there are only a few men in this world like you, Toru Watanabe. And your flaws and imperfections only make you humanely perfect and endearing to the many women in your life: Naoko, Midori, and Reiko.