Happy New Year! I wish that this year will be a good one for you.
In Japan, New Year’s Day is the first day we welcome Toshigami-sama ( Japanese kami and a part of the Shinto pantheon), the deity of the year. Families, relatives, and friends gather to celebrate together. People visit their local shrine or a shrine or temple in the direction considered auspicious for that year, praying for peace, safety, and well-being in the year ahead.
Since I live in the United States, instead of going to a shrine or temple, my New Year’s Day tradition has been to hike into the Santa Monica Mountains to watch the first sunrise of the year and offer my prayers there. I’ve been doing this for nearly thirty years.
This year, however, we had heavy rain. I stayed up through the night, listening to weather reports, hoping that if the rain eased into a drizzle, I could still go. But the rain continued, and I realized the mountain trails were probably unsafe—muddy and unstable. I made the difficult decision to stay home.
Not being able to go see the first sunrise, something I’ve done for so many years, felt like my New Year’s start had been taken away from me. I felt an emptiness open up inside.
Absentmindedly, I turned on the TV. The local news was showing severe mudslides in areas already devastated by last year’s wildfires, where people had lost their homes. Then, on Japanese news, I saw coverage marking two years since the devastating earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year’s Day—magnitude 7.6, seismic intensity 7. Six hundred ninety-eight lives lost, and even now, two people are still missing.
When disasters strike at the beginning of a new year, how do people find the strength to move forward?
Watching the people in Noto observing a “New Year’s Day of remembrance,” I suddenly felt ashamed of myself. How foolish I had been to feel so depressed just because I couldn’t see the sunrise—when I am healthy, have a warm home to protect me from winter cold, a husband I love, our animal family, and even a comforting bowl of ozōni to enjoy.
I felt strongly again how precious this life is, and that I want to continue doing what I can, right now, with what I have.
At the end of last year, I wrote a blog highlighting 2025. But the truth is, even if today feels peaceful, we never know what tomorrow will bring.
That afternoon, a friend who wanted to try embroidery for the first time came over. She brought a 100 Embroidery Stitches book by the coats & clarks book no.150 publshed in 1964.
I reset my spirits and celebrated the New Year together with ozōni and Eric’s delicious flax, hemp, and chia seed waffles.
After that, I demonstrated how to do blanket stitch embroidery, and she began her very first embroidery project. Later, I spent some quiet time hand-stitching a scissors holder for my Sashiko workshops, using a recycled tin can and scissors-patterned fabric.
By the time we finished our stitches, my gloomy mood had completely lifted. After the friend left, Eric and I started talking about travel plans for the year—we’re thinking of going a bit farther than usual this time. Then the rain finally stopped, the sun appeared, and we decided to go to the beach to watch the first sunset of the year instead.
The sky was a dramatic canvas, filled with layers of clouds. During the hour before sunset, I quietly looked around. So many people had come to the beach—some were swimming, children were wading into the ocean fully dressed, and seagulls and sandpipers looked perfectly content.
Since I started Aqua Yoga last September, I joked, “If I keep doing Aqua Yoga all year and strengthen my legs, maybe next New Year I’ll be able to swim in the ocean too.” Eric replied with his own joke, “Why not swim now?”
The old me might have taken that as a challenge and done something reckless – jumping into the water right away. But I don’t do that anymore. This year, I want to watch, take my time, make plans, and someday make them real. I realized I really like this version of myself.
So I smiled and said to Eric, “Today, I set a goal—to swim next year.”
Before long, the sun steadily emerged from behind the clouds gaving us a powerful, radiant sunset light. It was as if it was shining extra brightly to make up for the sunrise I couldn’t see in the morning.
Such a magnificent light.
I saluted the sun—full of respect and gratitude.
Thank you.
That was all I felt. Just thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
As 2025 comes to a close, I look back on a year that began with wildfires in Los Angeles and unfolded with many challenges.
There were moments of deep uncertainty. During that time, I wrote a blog post titled “Sharing My Feelings After the Wildfires…”, trying to give words to what I was experiencing.
Uncertainty brings fear, and it often reveals a darker side within us.
After Christmas, we were invited to a small jazz gathering at the North Fork Library. A 19-year-old singer and trumpeter named Elba performed a Nina Simone song.
One part of the lyrics stayed with me:
“So forget your foolish pride, life is too short for sorrow. You may be here today and gone tomorrow. You might as well get what you want,
I have been writing about my feelings and experiences on my blog for over 10 years. This feels like a moment to pause and reflect.
Yes, I will continue to write as I always have.
I am here now, but I may be gone tomorrow. That is simply the truth. While I am here, I will write it like it is.
Around the world, many things have happened, and many are still happening. Some are deeply painful—wars, gun violence (especially in America), natural disasters, and so much more.
Because of that, I try to focus my life on what I can do to move forward.
When I face difficult situations, I often need to stop and reset myself—sometimes picking up where I left off, and other times starting over completely. I use whatever ability I have at that moment and do what I can.
Here are the highlights of my year, in the order they came to my mind.
Staying healthy
For me, health is the most important foundation for living. I do my best to take care of myself. I have survived two cancers—ovarian cancer and lymphoma—as well as physical and emotional disabilities from a near-fatal car accident. Through all of this, I have learned a great deal about how to care for “Sanae.”
Physical health is important, but for me, mental and emotional health are essential. It took a long time to understand this and to turn that understanding into daily practice.
When I feel foggy or stuck in a low emotional place, I am not happy. At those times, I need to communicate with myself about what is happening inside. When necessary, I also share how I am feeling with Eric, so he can understand what is going on with me. This helps keep my thoughts from drifting too far into dark places.
My best friends, Eric and dogs
I try to communicate with friends as well, but it is not always easy. Many people are not practiced in expressing their feelings, so sometimes I end up saying very little.
Meaningful communication is not only about speaking emotions directly. It can also be expressed through letters, cards, gifts, and by setting healthy boundaries.
Also, being with the animal family and spending time in nature. I love cuddling my cats and going hiking with my dogs!
Building strength and moving my body
To stay healthy, I have been trying new ways to be more physical—building muscle and getting outside more often. Walk more steadily!
I have not been able to practice yoga regularly since I injured my left knee when a neighbor’s dog attacked me and one of my dogs, Nalu, two years ago. The Qigong class at Virginia Park has been very helpful because it is outdoors. I walk two blocks to get there and enjoy a little conversation with the people taking the class. I also tried Tai Chi for 6 weeks, but it worsened my knee pain, so I knew it was not for me right now.
I wanted to do more than Qigong and find a way to improve my knee so I could reduce—or eliminate—pain. Two years ago, after the dog attack, I had only gone to urgent care. The X-ray showed no broken bones, but my knee was already weak from previous injuries. I received acupuncture and therapeutic massage, but the knee joint is complex, involving bones, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, and muscles working together. Remembering how helpful physical therapy had been in the past, I finally went to see my primary care doctor. My doctor agreed and recommended physical therapy.
I had avoided seeing my primary doctor for a long time, but I am glad I finally did.
I attended physical therapy at UCLA Hospital off and on for about eight months. I learned that less, but more frequent movements, are better than pushing too hard. Each visit, the therapists would ask, “Any falls or injuries?” That question made me realize how important it is—especially now, at age 70—to avoid falls and injuries.
I remembered how my mother’s health declined after she felt and had a hip surgery when she was 70, and how she eventually stopped walking before she passed away. That memory stays with me.
After lymphoma and chemotherapy in 2017, I lost a great deal of muscle, and my bone structure was affected. Since then, I have been working to rebuild my bones through daily movement and supplements such as Vitamin D. I want to avoid osteoporosis and other bone diseases.
Although my oncologist recommended seeing a bone specialist, it took me three years to finally do so. I had a bone density test and learned more about my bone health. Lightweight lifting was recommended, but I do not enjoy weightlifting or going to the gym—especially because I am very sensitive to smells, so people’s perspiration bothers me so much.
It took time, but I eventually found what works for me.
Aqua Yoga became the best way to rebuild strength without causing pain in my knee. I am grateful that I did not give up and continued searching for something I truly enjoy. I feel stronger and more upright now.
Teaching again
Because I stayed healthy, I was able to teach consistently—two to four times a month—for the entire year. I am deeply grateful to be teaching again.
Next year, I am scheduled to teach more Sashiko workshops, a new mending workshop at JACCC (Japanese American Cultural Community Center), and even a Macrobiotic class. I have also been invited to teach a two-day workshop at the Southern California Weaver Guild, and I am looking forward to what I can share there.
I have not taught Macrobiotic cooking itself for some time. Macrobiotics is much more than cooking—it is a holistic philosophy and lifestyle centered on balance and harmony through food, activity, mindset, and environmental awareness. It emphasizes whole, natural foods prepared mindfully to support physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Through my Sashiko workshops, I have been teaching practices that support mental and environmental awareness. Recently, I was asked to teach Macrobiotic cooking and the Five Element principles, so there may be another opportunity to share that work soon.
Saying goodbye to Lumi
I am deeply grateful that I was able to support Lumi in living fully until her very last breath.
She was one of my most beloved dogs, and I still miss her every day. I was blessed to share fifteen and a half years with her, and she passed peacefully at home. Every morning, I still light a candle to honor her and feel her presence.
This was my third time submitting a collage to the Santa Monica Emeritus Gallery exhibition.
The curator, Jesse Benson, selected my piece for display alone on the first wall. When I saw it, I almost cried with joy.
The collage was created mostly from screws, metal, and seaweed I collected while walking with Lumi around our neighborhood and the beach in Cayucos. I also used postage stamps, photographs, watercolor, colored pencils, and washi paper.
with my art teacher, Cathrine Tirr
Despite the rain, many people came to the opening reception. I am grateful to everyone who took the time to see my work, especially the friends who came to support me.
Making handmade holiday gifts
I am not sure when it started, but handmade gifts have become part of our holiday tradition.
Each year, we make miso, umeboshi plums, ume plum jam, elderberry tea, yuzu kosho, and more. This year, we also made grape jam—Eric had the opportunity to harvest a large amount of grapes from Leonardo DiCaprio’s property—and yuzu jam after making yuzu kosho.
I also stitched several Sashiko pieces as gifts.
Reconciliation after the dog attack
Two years ago, one of our dogs, Nalu, and I were attacked by a neighbor’s dog. At the time, I did not know how—or if—I could reconcile with the dog’s owner.
Five years earlier, Nalu had been attacked by the same dog. She was so terrified that she ran nearly two miles before being rescued. She was injured and suffered severe PTSD, becoming reactive toward other dogs for a few years. It was a heartbreaking period, though she slowly improved.
Then, two years ago, the same dog attacked again. This time, I was with Nalu and also injured. Both of us took Bach Flower Remedies to help with fear and emotional trauma.
Eventually, I contacted the dog’s owners. The wife was kind and thoughtful, but the husband was not. He denied the first attack, even though I talked to him that time once, but he never returned my calls after the second call. This time, I considered suing, but I knew it would be too stressful.
The wife left a card and a gift for Nalu, and later paid part of my medical expenses. We met for tea at a nearby café, where she shared that she was going through a divorce and no longer had the financial means to help further.
I needed to decide what would truly help me heal. I chose to focus on physical therapy for my knee. Because I do not drive, I asked her to take me to my therapy appointments, which she did.
The dog that attacked us has since passed away. I felt deep compassion for this woman—she had been through so much, not only because of the dog, but because of her marriage, the divorce, and her own losses.
She did the best she could. For the holidays, I gave her our homemade gift. I wished her well and hoped for a gentler year ahead.
What truly matters
I believe that money brings convenience, but not true happiness. I have not seen that wealth alone creates joy. I am at peace with the choices I made in handling this difficult situation with compassion and care.
Overall, 2025 was a deeply meaningful and fulfilling year for me.
I want to continue planting seeds, allowing them to grow and bloom, and harvesting new seeds for the future.
After the rain, the day after Christmas at Bass Lake
Thank you all for supporting me through another year.
Wishing you a healthy, peaceful, and joyful New Year.
A long time ago, a fortune teller told me I probably live till 60 but do not live long. I do not believe it seriously, but it stays in my mind when I hear something like that, so I did not forget about it.
Since I was born, I have had many near-death experiences, so it may be a miracle that I am still alive and enjoying a fulfilling life. I try to live each day with gratitude.
Now that I’m 70, I can definitely feel my body aging. I have aches and pains all over my body, and I often find myself looking for things every day because I can’t find them, but for some reason, I feel young at soul and mostly upbeat. I don’t feel that old yet, so isn’t 70 that old after all?
However, compared to when I was younger, I’ve become calmer, so I guess that’s the benefit of age. I did many things when I was younger, like skydiving, scuba diving, and bungee jumping. Now I’m satisfied with my situation, have no desire to do anything extreme, and enjoy relaxing each day. It may be just me aging.
After my 69th birthday, I told Eric I wanted to go to Europe, specifically Rome (Italy), to celebrate my 70th birthday and made a plan with him. Going to Rome has been on my bucket list since I saw Audrey Hepburn in “Roman Holiday” when I was 9 years old.
The movie was released in 1953 before I was born, so I do not remember how I watched it, but it must have been with my father since he loved to see foreign movies and took me to many French movies, too.
In 1997, I went to Europe for three weeks alone, cooking at macrobiotic centers and helping out at cooking classes. I also went to several places in Italy, but my luggage was stolen on the train from Venice to Rome, so I didn’t go to Rome. Eric didn’t go to Rome when he was working in Italy, so I showed him Audrey Hepburn’s “Roman Holiday,” he liked the scene where she toured Rome on a Vespa.
But our beloved eldest golden retriever, Lumi, is 15 years old.
Lumi two weeks ago at dog family gathering.
She had a heart attack in December and a weakened lung in February, so we don’t know how long she can live. Lumi still eats well and lives a relaxed life but needs help getting up because of arthritis. We tried to get her to wear diapers, but she didn’t like it. She has a pride who gets up and tries to go outside to the bathroom, even in a diaper. But I understand how she feels. She takes homeopathic and Chinese medicine every day. I massage her legs and spine daily and give her moxibustion, making her feel good. She’s a precious family member, so we do our best to make sure she lives his life to the fullest.
So, we decided not to go to Rome or Europe. Eric asked me what I wanted to do for my 70th birthday.
My favorite thing to do is to spend time in nature with my whole family: Eric, our dogs (Lumi, Nalu, Kai, Lani, Makani), and our cats (Tin Tin and Mai Mai).
I asked Eric to take all of us on a camping trip to one of our favorite places, Morro Bay State Park.
Going camping with five dogs and two cats, lots of stuff to prepare their food since we make homemade food for them. But we’ve been camping before, so we know what to do. It just takes time. We can do it.
We stopped by Santa Barbara on the first day to see our good friend Kelly. She just moved to a lovely new house. She had a big persimmon, loquat, guava, and ginko trees. Kelly loves to use my organic botanical skincare products ( I have been using my organic botanical skincare products for about 20 years). I look forward to showing her how to make tinctures there. She took us for lunch at Santa Barbara Yacht Club.
She gave me glass flower bases for my birthday. The box said “Kin.” I and my first golden retriever, Kin, met her and her golden retriever, Daisy, at the dog beach in Santa Barbara almost 30 years ago. I appreciate our friendship so much!
We arrived at Morro Bay State Park just before Sunset after Santa Barbara. We have come to this camping ground before. It is near the ocean and the Museum of Natural History. Makani had never come to this campground, but she had been on a camping trip with us before, so she had fun with her dogs family and the cats were relaxing in the kitty condo.
We brought homemade lentil soup for dinner for us. We had a simple, delicious meal in the van. I sew the moon and stars with the ocean wind at night, celebrating my last night in my 60s.
The next morning was supposed to be cooler, but it got warmer, and the sun showed the face and whispered, “Happy 70th Birthday, Sanae.”
As Eric was feeding the dog family breakfast, a couple of people passing by were surprised we had many dogs and said, “Wow, five dogs! Dogs are from God!” I thought right away that maybe living with a dog means being protected by God!
After breakfast, we hiked a little and visited the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History.
There were many elementary kids for their field trip. Beautiful Morro Bay rock!
I love learning about nature and the local habitat. I did not know that Morro Bay was founded in 1870.
We enjoyed there a lot and got an extraordinary seaweed book.
Then, we went to Cuyucos Dog Beach. This dog beach is Morro Bay Rock in the back of the scene.
It’s the best dog beach I have ever known. As we got our dogs out of the van, someone said, “Oh, many dogs, dog is God!” It was the second time people commented on Dog and God that morning. I know that when our dogs are happy, we are happy, too; it must be God’s work!
We put our recently bought cart on the sand at the beach so that Lumi could enjoy it, too. I pulled the cart for Lumi on the beach.
She couldn’t walk well, but she was happy to feel the breeze and smell the ocean.
Nalu, Kai, Lani, and Makani enjoyed running, chasing each other, and eating seaweed.
After Dog Beach, we went to Cambria to window shop and to a natural food store, where we bought some local boysenberry jam.
Our camping toaster!
Then, Harmony (a small town with a population of 18) where Eric tasted some wine and bought some.
The birthday dinner was at Harbor Hut, one of the oldest restaurants we like to visit in Morro Bay. Eric reserved our favorite seat so we could see the sunset by Morro Bay Rock.
What a precious, thoughtful gift filled my heart.
On this day, I got birthday calls from my friends Masayo, Angel, and Mark. Thank you, everyone!
On the morning of the second day, we decided to go somewhere we’d never been before and headed to a town called Los Osos. Eric bought some sourdough bread at a local bakery.
We also went to dip in a mineral bath at Avila Spa.
The mineral bath helped ease my legs and lower back pain. I didn’t have a swimsuit, so I wore black underwear and a tank top (lol).
Then, in the afternoon, we saw another good friend, Laura, who lives nearby. She went to Kushi Institute to learn macrobiotics and used to cook macrobiotic food for my client. We had a late lunch / early dinner at Shine Cafe. We both ordered Tempeh Reuben sandwiches, but they looked different than what we thought. The waiter said they were a tempeh sandwich, and just difference was no sauerkraut this one. Do you want sauerkraut? Laura and I said at the same time.” Of course, sauerkraut!” and laughed so much!!!
A farmers’ market was nearby, so we walked around and checked local vegetables, fruits, and artist crafts. Laura got a ceramic pin matching my hat – a cute orange bird from a local ceramist for my birthday.
Then, I came up with the idea of getting a foot massage to relax. Eric said no, but I said it was my birthday, so you need to celebrate with a foot massage. We all got massages and feel so much better. In the evening, we returned to the campground and talked with Eric’s banana muffin, Los Osos’s sourdough bread, vegan cheese, and kukicha till we got tired.
It was no stressful, simple, happy weekend for my birthday.
Now, I have returned home and connected with the trees and plants in my garden that I have been helping to grow for almost 40 years. I am happy they are around me and give me a botanical vibe.
Nancy, my frined who live behind us brought me a birthday card and flowers from the garden, and we made plans to go out for sushi. I got a birthday call from Amanda, a kind friend who remembered my birthday even though she lost everything in the wildfires in January. My long-time friend, Jessica, took me to a birthday brunch in Marina del. It was a fun time with delicious food.
My longest-time friend (since Pepperdine University), Judy, is taking me to dinner next week; I am lucky to have good friends and feel happy to continue celebrating my 70!
I am grateful to age slowly and find my interest in everyday life to move forward.
It has been over two weeks since the most devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. My heart goes out to people affected by the wildfire.
I appreciate all of you contacting me and showing your concerns. Eric and I are safe with five dogs and two cats’ family here in Santa Monica.
Although we did not have actual fire damage, I have been emotional and feeling fear. I wrote this blog to move forward in response to the fear of this wildfire and my sad feelings.
The fire occurred on Tuesday, January 7th, around 10:20 am.
That day, I left home at 8:40 am and went to a Qigong class.
I had a habit of looking at the sky, and I remembered it was blue, so I was grateful as I walked.
After the class, I was at home making a sample for the Sashiko Workshop; Eric phoned me and told me about the wire.
I asked Eric, is it close?
He said it was Pacific Paracede, about 11 miles from our house.
I went outside and saw the gray-pinkish big smoke over the north side of our house.
I noticed the wind started to get so intense, and our trees in the garden were swinging like children’s parks. It was a twisting swing I never saw before. The wind got so bad it broke the branches of the trees as they twisted off. We could not sleep that night, watching the news all the time and checking Watch Duty – Wildfire Maps & Alerts
When the second area of Santa Monica received mandatory evacuation (about 3 miles from our house), we packed our passports and some of our belongings, set up a large cat crate with a litter box for cats and dog beds in the van, and got ready to evacuate.
Seeing the smoke and flame from the rooftop of our house, I let out a speechless scream.
The next day, amidst the black smoke, the sun was dyed red, which I had never seen in my life. I had to face the horrors of reality.
When the news showed about 12,000 houses were burned down, I felt like I was just staring at the screen in a daze, unable to believe it, as if I was watching the devastation of war.
Finding out some of our friends lost their houses in the wildfire and some are still evacuating made us feel such sad and heavy feelings. My heart hurts when I think about how long everyone has to go. We meditated more to send love and compassion to these people. We also did what we could by making donations, but I felt helpless. In the meantime, we cared for ourselves to find even the slightest joy and happiness. I can’t ignore the indescribable emotions that can’t be put into words in the air.
Over the first weekend of Eric’s day off, we escaped the smoky air and went to Santa Barbara’s dog beach.
Last week, we celebrated Lumi’s 15th birthday. It lifted up our spirits! Thank Lumi so much for her strength to live!
Today, I’m listening to Cheri Huber’s audiobook “The Fear Book” as I prepare material kit for my first sashiko workshop at JACCC this weekend. I hope the Sashiko workshop helps people heal during challenging times.
What fear is (from Cheri Huber’s book)
…fear is the hunted, not the hunter.
Fear is not what you think it is.
…..Fear is a very useful signal along the path to freedom.
When I was a child (around elementary school), I never thought about knowing anything about myself.
So I just believed what the adults – my parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, my school teachers – said about me, and I didn’t realize what I was feeling.
I was not good at creating things quickly, writing quickly, or implementing them immediately. The adults around me called me “NOROMA”（it means SLOW) because I started everything leisurely and couldn’t finish it on time. “Noroma” also means “not attentive” in Japanese, which didn’t sound positive. Therefore, I believed that I was not good at creating or implementing something.
As a result, I can’t count the number of times I’ve given up on creating something or stopped before it was completed.
I learned crochet and embroidery in elementary school between 9 and 12 years old.
However, I could hardly complete any projects at school.
First, think about what to make, what color to use, and what kind of thread to use.
By the time I finally decided to start, everyone else had already finished about half of it. That’s why I was so behind that I couldn’t complete it at all in the classroom.
I could have finished it at home, but I didn’t.
Why?
That’s because my parents’ home didn’t have an atmosphere of art or crafts at all. I’ve tried making something at home a few times, but when I did, they would say, “You’re making a lot of trouble. You can’t finish it.” Or, “Why did you take so long to make it?” so I didn’t want to do anything at home.
Of course, I did not know if I could make it or not, but I wanted to try with my best ability. However, I felt that my family did not support me, so I did not want to do anything at home.
But that didn’t mean I completely lost my passion for creating things. It took me many years, but I started to do some simple knitting, do pottery, do stained glass, and do a little gardening.
When I started studying macrobiotics after I got ovarian cancer, I realized that I could take the time to cook according to the five seasons, and I thought I could do this. Carefully wash whole grains, brown rice, etc. and cook them slowly over time in a ceramic or stainless steel pot instead of an electric kettle. It was perfect for me, as I gently washed vegetables, cut them with care, and cooked them. I enjoyed studying and learning a lot.
I like weaving, knitting, crocheting, and sashiko projects, as well as calligraphy, wood carving, natural dyeing (using organic indigo, herbs, and flowers), natural ink making, mosaics, stained glass, woodblock prints, making miso, Japanese umeboshi plums, grow organic plants and more.
I started enjoying my favorite things in my spare time from work, such as watercolor painting and growing my favorite medicinal herbs in my garden after I recovered from ovarian cancer.
As I got older and started to enjoy a slower life, I’ve started working in between doing my favorite things, which is the opposite of what I used to do.
By doing something I like even a little bit every day, I realized that since I was a child, I actually like things that take time to make. I found myself enjoying taking my time and being careful, and carefree about my time.
I found that I felt most comfortable going slowly.
I do not mind being careful “NOROMA”.
I’ve joined Wildfiber Studio‘s sweater club about seven years ago. Slowly over the past five years, have learned and perfected how to knit and crochet many sweaters and cardigans.
A birthday card arrived in the mailbox. It came from my longtime friend J, whom I met while attending Pepperdine University (45 years ago).
She drew a scene where we recently saw a movie on the card. The scene is as follows: Eric was buying our tickets, and the person selling them asked my friend J and me if we were over 62. She and I are the same age, and we looked at each other and asked each other, “Huh? How old are we?”
We could not think of our age at that moment right away, and we laughed so much. Receiving this card made me laugh so much again.
It is so wonderful to age well. Most of the time, we can’t even remember how old we are because we usually feel young and have much fun without paying attention to how old we are. I’m fortunate to have a best friend like J.
Come to think of it, a long time ago (probably more than 30 years ago), I was talking with my friend “J” on the sidewalk when an elderly woman walked past us and said, “Age before beauty!” I remembered.
I had never heard the phrase “age before beauty” before, so I asked J, who was an English major, what it meant. I don’t remember exactly what J said- but it meant something like “Age is more valuable than youth or beauty.” I didn’t realize its true meaning until recently, but I’m finally at the age where I can tell young people about the value of growing older.
That getting older is not just about numbers. Of course, the reality is that aging is physically more challenging, and mentally, it can be lonely and scary times. But that’s why I feel so strongly that it’s essential to make the most of my abilities and live daily with self-love and self-care. As I age, I am convinced that my experiences have made me a wiser person, and I can say that I like being the way I am.
Well, I didn’t do anything special for my birthday this year. As usual, – Morning walk with the dogs -Hand-sewing the pants length for a new gardening jumpsuit – Aquatic plant gardening -Watched a movie and cuddled cats -Eric took me out for my birthday dinner -In the end, I went to the sea at night when no one was there and very windy (Lumi’s ears are flying because of wind)
– Talk to Eric about my future plans. – I took a bath with homemade medicinal herbs and fell asleep well.
The best part was that I felt a special, soft vibe and was grateful for being born. Spending my birthday slowly like this was perfect for me right now.
Some of you may know that I have had some difficult experiences in my life. Attempted suicide when I was 14 years old. Moved to the United States at the age of 19. Stopped drinking alcohol at the age of 29 and have continued to do so. Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1993 and recovered in 1995. Survived a near-death car crash in 2001, and was able to walk after four years in a wheelchair. In 2019, began recovering from stage IV non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer, despite being diagnosed with only weeks to live in 2017.
My birthday wish is to respect “Sanae,” who has chosen this life and is striving to fulfill the life she has been given. Maintain good health by caring for my body, mind, spirit, and soul.
As my birthday gifts, I received flowers, cards, voice messages, emails, Messengers, and many messages on Facebook. I even received messages and emails from people I hadn’t heard from in a long time. It’s a warm feeling to know that someone cares about me.
A friend sent me a birthday fortune telling. For those born on April 4, 2024: The wide variety of your experiences will stretch beyond your dreams. Your bright burning curiosity becomes a spotlight for interconnectedness and unity. Love expands your thinking and sparkles up your lifestyle. You’ll free yourself from excess responsibility and the principles of minimalism will deliver you into clarity and fulfillment. Virgo and Scorpio adore you. Lucky numbers are: 7, 10, 4, 41, 5.
I’m glad that this aligns with what I’m doing now, especially since last year, when I’ve been trying to do what I can slowly and without restricting myself as much as possible.
And gifts from Mother Earth:
Snow in North Fork (a photo was sent to me by a friend from the North Fork) and a rainbow when Eric too me out for my birthday dinner.
I feel grateful for everyone and everything who thought of me on my birthday.
My birthday present for me was a day where I give myself time and carefree day without any worries or pressure, which is truly the most luxurious birthday gift.
Love, Sanae ❤️
P.S. A few days after I posted this blog, Eric baked a cake and made my favorite strawberry shortcake for my slightly late birthday! It looks cute, right? How did it taste? ”…mmhmmhmm” I wish you could taste it.
