There are departures people cannot foresee. Those who choose to leave will leave those who stay behind with many question marks.
Life is a chain of question marks.
***
A teenage boy named Michael came up to me and asked, “I’ve been best friends with Kim for almost five years, but lately he’s been ignoring me and not talking to me anymore.”
I inquired, “Did you do anything that might have disappointed him?”
Michael paused and then spoke, “I’m not sure I did anything wrong. I went to his class many times to look for him, but he wouldn’t even look at me. Because he has many new friends now, he wants to stop playing with me?”
I advised, “If that’s the case, email it to him. Write this: If I did anything that upset you by accident, tell me so I can fix it. I don’t like it when you ignore me like that.”
He nodded, looking like he had listened to my advice with full attention. “He won’t even look at me. Why would he read my email?”
I comforted him. “He may not want to look at you anymore, but he will feel you. Try once and see.”
Michael’s face became strangely serious. “What if he doesn’t reply to my email?”
I smiled. “He may not want to reply; he may even delete your email. But he can’t delete your energy or close off your heart.”
Thank you for reading.
Yoshiko Amemiya
December 2, 2025