The house next door was gone.
When I returned to my home in Tokyo,
It had been completely demolished.

I had heard about the demolition of the house a while ago,
I knew it, but
When I saw that it was gone,
A feeling of loneliness wells up inside me.

In the house next door,
A lady over 90 years old lived there alone.
It must have been more than 20 years since her husband passed away.
Since then, she has been living alone,
He was moved to a self-sufficient facility two or three years ago.

Roses and potted plants,
The well-maintained garden is very beautiful.
It always delights our eyes in every season.

We weren't particularly close, but
When my son was little, he loved me very much,
We were also often treated to sweets such as homemade pound cake.

In the neighborhood, she is known as a "nagging old lady."
It was mostly talk,
There were certainly some tough times, but
I think she was more of a lady who could "express her opinions properly."

Madam, who was transferred to the facility,
I felt a little relieved because he seemed to be in good health.
Because it was suddenly moved
I'm so sorry I wasn't able to say hello.

In Madame's absence, the garden was taken care of by
A friendly neighbor had been taking care of it for a long time,
Roses and daffodils,
I was still able to see it.

The rubble of demolished houses,
A lone excavator stands in the middle of the land.

There was a beautiful big rose tree,
Other plants and trees,
It had been completely removed.

What a lonely sight.

The house that was there until recently
It has completely disappeared.

A house is not just about shape,
I think it has been built there for as long as time has passed.
The voices of family members and the smells coming from the kitchen.
Encompassing all the memories of various events,
There it was.

Those beautiful roses
I'll never see it again.

Starting next week,
Demolition of another house is also expected to begin.

Our lives are
While changing its appearance little by little,
This is how it will be updated.


Apparently the first spring wind blew in Kyushu today.
It was windy and sweaty in Tokyo as well.