“I’m Giving Birth Tomorrow”

Yesterday, I happened to see a post from a Taiwanese friend on Instagram.

It said:

“38 weeks pregnant.”

We had not been in touch for quite some time, so I immediately sent her a message.

“I didn’t know you were pregnant. Congratulations.”

Then I received an unexpected reply.

“I’m giving birth tomorrow.”

I never imagined I would contact her the day before she gave birth.

⸻

Her name is Kokoro.

We have known each other for many years.

Tango was what first brought us together.

One of my strongest memories of our friendship is attending the Taipei Tango Marathon at her invitation.

I traveled to Taipei alone.

Since she lived there, she must have had many other people she wanted to see during the event.

Even so, she chose to spend those four days with me.

We ate together every day.

We danced tango and talked about all sorts of things afterward.

⸻

On the final day, we had lunch at Din Tai Fung.

She told me that she liked its fried rice more than its xiaolongbao.

After lunch, we went to an afternoon milonga together.

She had a business dinner scheduled for eight that evening.

Even so, she stayed with me until shortly before it began.

I wrote about that day on my old blog.

“The Final Day of the Taipei Tango Marathon”

⸻

At the time, she had only recently married.

We talked about the differences between being single and being married.

The uncertainties of newlywed life.

The challenges of building a life with another person.

Work.

The future.

Over those four days, we talked about a great many things.

The tango marathon itself was wonderful.

Looking back, however, what I remember most vividly is the time I spent with her.

Because of her, those days in Taipei became something special.

⸻

Later, she came to Japan with her husband.

The three of us had dinner together and reminisced about our time in Taipei.

Having once lived in Japan, she has always loved the country.

Recently, however, she has become absorbed in winter sports, snorkeling, and scuba diving, and does not seem to dance tango very often anymore.

The center of her life gradually shifted, and we stopped keeping in touch as frequently as before.

⸻

Now she is about to become a mother.

Once she begins raising a child, her life will undoubtedly change again.

She has her work.

She has her family.

For a while, it may become more difficult for her to travel freely or attend tango events as she once did.

We may have even fewer opportunities to see each other.

⸻

She invited me to Taipei.

I accepted the invitation and traveled to Taiwan alone.

I made the journey, and she responded by spending those four days with me.

If either one of us had not taken that step, those days would never have happened.

⸻

I doubt we will ever spend such an intense stretch of time together again.

But no one can know for certain.

Ten years from now.

Perhaps twenty.

Once raising her child becomes less demanding, we may find ourselves having tea together somewhere in Taiwan.

We might talk again about work, family, and the lives each of us has lived.

By then, our views of life and the challenges we face will be entirely different from those we discussed during our four days in Taipei.

⸻

She has continued her work as an entrepreneur, built a family, and is now about to become a mother.

My life has also changed considerably since those days.

Even when we feel that we are standing still, time gradually carries us somewhere else.

And sometimes, a single message after years apart can reconnect all the time that has passed between us.

By chance, I saw her Instagram post the day before she was due to give birth.

Perhaps that, too, is part of the mystery of human connection.