On Christmas

On Christmas in 1979, I and my wife have headed to a festive reunion with family and those who had been involved with the sanatorium my aunt managed around WWII. A couple of dozens of people have attended it at parent's home, maternal, not too far from this present place. 

We have just started our residency at a med school hospital nearby. It took only 20 minutes to drive from the dorm we lived to that parent's home. We didn't have a car those days and should come there by train and bus. It took almost a couple of hours. I would like to attend that meeting in order to introuce my wife to them. We were in honey moon period. I was a kind of proud of her and of starting career as a doctor.

We should walk about 15 minutes from the bus stop to maternal parent's home on a street, unpaved those days. Walking on the way, we could see the mountain range in Nikko area, about 40 or 50km west of there, over harvested farms. This photo was taken about 20 years ago, much later than that trip. I believe the mountains were snowed like in this photo.   

We didn't expect what would happen to us then. Only describable in more than tens of pages here. We were rather optimistic and hopeful for our future. 

Even reaching the last chapter of my life, in this season, I always recall that beautiful mountains shown on the photo. Even if our lives have not been as what we dreamed of those days, I am overwhelmed with gratitude to family, people around me and the supreme being. Even if I would writhe on the ground from now on, I would not forget what I thought in Christmas in 1979. 

In Christmas, another thing I always remember is the famous Christmas Concerto by Corelli. I have mentioned of this concerto grosso in a previous post. I have played this music a number of times. In some occasions as a solist of cello. In a year or two since I started practising cello, I have had a chance to play it with some orchestral members. It was a Christmas party at a women's university, with which our orchestra cooperated. At the student hall, the trees in the campus and a few buildings were seen in the darkness. Very chilly without heating or with inefficient heating, I believe. Of course, our mind was invariably warmed. When the last movement of pastorale was over, having cleaned up the hall, we went back home in clusters of close friends. 

Again, I wish you all the best for this season, either in good shape or not. Let's believe something good is prepared for us next year. Even without it, let's remember anything blessing us. Thanks for visiting this blog in this passing year. You will be welcomed anytime here.