“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” ― Dr. Seuss
“Only thing that matters the fact is that the relationship came to its end. It’s time to move on. I’m moving on. And I know you can do the same.” That’s what my ex told me when we broke up. She was leaving Japan.
What makes her so special to me is that she was my first girlfriend. All the way from the US, she was working in Japan as an English teacher. We’ve been traveling in and around the greater Tokyo region. Our first kiss was in Yokohama on a cold night of winter. Everything was brighter and more colorful in those days. And there was no way of knowing that the relationship would come to its end abruptly.
Despite her intention to stay in Japan, she was also looking for reasons not to. She was silently suffering from within. Because I was immature, I missed her signs. When I realized it, it was too late.
Our relationship only lasted for half a year. But they were such amazing and beautiful moments. I still appreciate her for who she was. Even though it was almost five years ago, those moments are still shining in my heart.
Here are snapshots of Shinjuku I photographed today, and this is the city where we first met in. When I first met her, she was staring at me. She later told me that it was because she thought she knew me for some inexplicable reason. Shinjuku, therefore, means a lot to me.
P.S. If we could feel love and forgiveness most of the time, perhaps we wouldn’t need the public art shaped in “love” in the cover photo.
