•My Father | JJK

15

19 YEARS PRIOR

  Meeting new people might be weird for some. It's different for everyone. Some may meet someone or many people every day, but without really searching to become close to the ones they meet, whether they know because they won't meet again after or whether because the person does not really care to know the one they just met. For example, cashiers in stores can meet hundreds of people a day, but the majority of those hundreds of clients will be forgotten by the cashier by the end of their day or week, as they are used to meeting and interacting with so many people every day. But for some others, meeting new people is something rare and something that doesn't happen very often, so making the acquaintance with someone new can feel weird. Those people are not used to meeting new people, but when they do, there is a higher chance that this new person might become someone close in the near future. Of course, there are still chances that they don't care and don't search to become close, but usually, the ones that rarely meet someone new every day tend to sooner or later, become quite close with this new acquaintance. Whether they stay close for a long time or not does not matter, as they will still share a certain closeness.

There are billions of people on planet Earth, and everyone sees new faces every day, but without necessarily talking to them or even looking at each other or remembering the faces of these someones seen for only a few seconds. But for sure, fate will do its work, and will make sure the right people will meet at the right time. In life, nothing happens by luck or by chance, if something happens, it is because it was meant to happen, as happy and cheerful it can be like as sad and regretful it can be, if it happens, it is because it was meant to be. And if it doesn't happen now, it will happen later. That's the way life works, even if it is in a way unfair and cruel. But fate is not always unfair and cruel, it can also be generous and great, even sometimes forgiving, allowing a second chance, or maybe sometimes a third chance. Even if unfortunately, not everyone can have those second or third chances.

But, fate is not something set in cement, fate can change. Fate can change by the choices someone makes. Fate has many paths. The fate of someone will only follow the path someone chooses to take. Someone's fate will obviously change by the path someone chooses to walk down. Some paths may cross each other and merge into a single path, but changing paths is also not impossible. It can be hard, even painful sometimes, and some people may change paths once again because the pain may be too great, but some people will decide to keep on walking down this path, not always knowing if one day, the pain and challenges will go away, but they take the risk to keep on walking forward, hoping for the best and for the path to clear. For some, it may be stupid and reckless, but for some others, it is the right thing to do. Always hoping for the best and always walking forward for years, even if it results that nothing has ever changed. But taking risks is a part of life. If someone doesn't take risks, how can it even be called living?

Meeting new people is something certain to happen. In a lifetime, someone can meet thousands of people. But only a handful of those people will remain close, or will stay in someone's memory until the day they die. Some people have more impact on someone. Negatively or positively, alive or not, they still have all one thing in common, it is that in a way, they have changed someone's life, for the better or for the worse. In a lifetime, only a few people will have changed the course of it.

If Sanae had to name the people that changed her life, there would be her parents. Both her father and her mother. Her father was someone she always looked up to, and he has always been a role model for her. Whenever she found herself in a struggle, she would run to him for his wise words, wise words that he was more than happy to give. To her, her father was a great man, and he has always been and he had changed her life for the better. Her mother was someone that she deeply loved too, and they had also been close to each other, but the more she grew up, and the more her mother became protective over her, and so she became more severe and strict and the closeness they once shared was disappearing the more the time would go. Her mother had changed her life for the better, but also for the worse.