Letter 2 : Turkey

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Good morning, afternoon, or evening to you Aki, Depending on what time of the day you are reading this. This is the second day of me writing a letter to you.

Yesterday, I was just talking about when you were young. And I had a dream about you and that dream made me remember a lot about when you were young.

I remember on your 2nd birthday. It was one of the most memorable days for me because that was the first time you were able to say my name. You were so cuuuttteee back then, I want to squish your cheeks. But No, I hesitated because I don't want your cheeks to sag. But I was happy because you finally did recognize me at that time.

You know, I took care of you more than your mom when you were 1 year old. Most of the time, I was the one carrying you and your mom would only carry you when you are hungry. Yet you... You can already say "Mama" and "Yumi" but despite me teaching you to say "Rei" every day, you never said it at all. IT WAS ONE SYLLABLE. HAHAHA.

YES, I know, the 1-year-old you made me very jealous of your mom and I admit that. But that's alright because you made me the happiest by saying my name on your birthday. I was just really happy because it was as if you were my own child too. I was happy, but let me tell you something, I cried a lot in shock when you said my name. Your mom teased me a lot calling me a cry baby because I really did cry hard at an age of 22. But because I was too happy, I bought Turkey for your birthday.

It was funny because it was just you, me, and your mom, and you can't even eat solid food yet, so I and your mom had to eat that turkey for 3 days straight. Well, our family just consisted of the 3 of us but we were really happy. In commemoration of this, I pasted another one of my favorite photos on the 2nd page. It was a picture taken by your mother on her polaroid camera. It was a picture of me and you sleeping by the fireplace. You were sleeping on me while I was still holding a turkey leg. I know, I look dumb, but that's just because I got tired from crying. I just love this photo for many reasons.

Going back to the story though, it has been like that for the coming years until your mom met your stepdad and brought together with him your stepsister, Jan. You and Jan were the same age (7 years old) and it's so funny how both of you are more attached to me than your parents. After all, I took care of both of you every after school. Your mom and dad were really hard working eh-- but damn you guys were really stuck with me. Both of you always sneaked out of your own bedrooms and I would just be shocked the next morning that both of you are sleeping beside me. It happened so very often that you guys were literally residing in my bedroom and never used your bedroom until you both entered grade 7.

It was one of the happiest memories I had with both you and Jan. These are memories I would take to my grave.

I'm almost out of space again. I would continue this letter probably tomorrow again. Even though it's just 3 PM, I wanted to rest for now and watch the sunset, they remind me of your eyes.

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