I also know that my toddler will be waiting at home. He will be eating okonomiyaki with his grandmother. He will look up when I walk through the door and say, “ Okaeri ” (Welcome home) before he even looks at the baby.
Just Before the Birth Again: A Pause in Japan, Heavy with Waiting
Tomorrow, I will walk to the 7-Eleven ( konbini ) for the last time as a mother of one. I will buy the tonkotsu ramen in a cup that I am not supposed to crave. I will buy a kakigori (shaved ice) because the heat is biblical. I will stand in the fluorescent light, my belly brushing against the magazine rack, and I will feel utterly anonymous and utterly seen at the same time. Just before the birth again- Japan- Pregnant- U...
A quiet corner of Tokyo, Japan Condition: 39 weeks, 4 days. Very pregnant. Very still.
There is only the pause.
But this time? Just before the birth again, there is no sprint.
But just before the birth again, there is this. A quiet room in Japan. A full belly. A heart that is breaking and healing in the same beat. I also know that my toddler will be waiting at home
This is the Ma . The sacred pause.