When I look back on my life,
there are several irreplaceable people who come to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have not seen any of them for decades,
and we have long since lost touch.
However, the memories I have of them still give me
strength today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of them is my friend S from my junior high
and high school days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually, S dropped out of high school.
The last time I saw him was several months after
he had left school.
At that time, he and I would have been near
the end of our second year of high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was riding a motorcycle with his girlfriend on the back.
We had not arranged to meet.
We simply ran into each other by chance in town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We exchanged a few greetings,
and then they rode away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was on a bicycle, while they were on a motorcycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All I could do was watch them disappear into the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I first heard that S had dropped out of school,
I took it rather lightly and thought, \u201cOh, I see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when I saw the two of them riding away,
I suddenly realized that we would probably not
see each other very often anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That realization created a large empty space in
both my daily life and my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I threw myself into studying for university entrance exams.
I really threw myself into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted to fill that empty space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking back now,
I think that was a turning point in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until then, I had never been particularly serious
about studying.
But from that moment on, I began to study with
genuine dedication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have so many wonderful memories with S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last thing he did for me was to leave my life
at a time when I needed to think seriously about my future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thank you, S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hope you are still doing well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I look back on my life, there are several irreplaceable people who come to mind. I have not seen any of t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-thoughts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t