Now that the blog is finally back from the dead, I figured I’d write a life update while I’m at it. Covering eight years in one post is a bit much, so here are a few of the bigger things that happened, roughly in order.

I changed jobs twice more

Since my last post, I’ve changed jobs two more times. Just counting the number might make me look fickle, but the criteria I use to pick a company have stayed consistent the whole time. One is: “how much benefit can this company realistically bring to Japan as a country?” The other is: “can I genuinely get behind what this company is trying to do, as if it were my own cause?” I’ve only moved when I could nod confidently on both counts. The jobs kept changing, but the yardstick never did.

I sold the Porsche

I let go of the 996 Carrera 4S I mentioned buying “on a whim” back then. It wasn’t that I wanted to sell it — there were circumstances involved that I’ll leave out here. It wasn’t what I wanted. The one silver lining is that it sold for more than I paid. Classic car prices have been climbing, so between all the fun I had owning it and coming out ahead financially, it wasn’t a total loss. Still, letting go of a car I loved, and not by choice, left a certain emptiness.

Syrup passed away

Our Maine Coon, Syrup, passed away too. I’m leaving here, unedited, what I wrote on Facebook the day it happened.

Our Maine Coon Syrup passed away today. He was 10 years old. In May, his left front leg suddenly became paralyzed, and even after tests at the vet, we couldn’t pin down the cause. The paralysis gradually spread until his whole body except his head and neck was affected, and he became bedridden.

His vet referred us to a large university animal hospital, where he was examined two weeks ago. General anesthesia was too risky, so he had an MRI and CT scan without it. But without a spinal fluid sample, a definitive diagnosis wasn’t possible — the two leading suspects were lymphoma or meningitis — so we continued with medication in the meantime.

Today we brought him back to the university hospital for a follow-up. They ran blood tests again and scheduled a spinal fluid draw under general anesthesia for two weeks out, and we headed home.

When I got him out of the car and opened his carrier, he had already stopped breathing. I called our regular vet and rushed him in, but he couldn’t be revived. The vet thought he’d likely had a seizure in the car and choked on blood-tinged sputum.

He used to weigh over 9kg, but once the paralysis set in he lost 3kg. If there’s such a thing as an afterlife, I hope he’s eating his fill — he always did love his food.

Syrup, I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. Thank you for everything.

I got a home battery, essentially for free

After something that heavy, let me throw in something more mundane. We installed a solar battery storage system at home. Tokyo’s subsidy for it turned out to be generous enough that we got it installed at essentially no cost. It helps with electricity bills and gives us a safety net in a disaster, and with a subsidy that good, there was no reason not to. Things like this are best taken advantage of while they last.

A trip to Sapporo for my nephew’s wedding

I went to Sapporo for my nephew’s wedding. It had been a while since I’d been there, and a while since the whole family had gotten together. Celebrations like that are always good to be at. Seeing the nephew who used to be so small standing up front in a suit made me feel my own age.

My mother moved into a care facility

My mother has dementia and is certified as needing long-term care. Her memories from long ago are mostly intact, but she can barely hold onto short-term memory — she won’t remember a conversation from a few minutes earlier. There were even times she looked at her own eldest daughter and didn’t know who she was. Until recently, my father had been taking care of her almost entirely on his own, handling every aspect of it.

Then my father was hospitalized, and with no one left to look after her, we had no choice but to move her into a care facility. That’s when it really hit me just how much my father had been doing, day in and day out. That level of devotion — there’s really no other word for it than remarkable.

My father passed away

And then my father passed away. I attended the wake and the funeral, and for the first time in my life went through the process of carrying out someone’s will.

My father had carefully set aside enough money to make sure my mother’s care would be well provided for after he was gone. He’d thought ahead and made the arrangements — genuinely something to respect.

My older brother handled all the funeral procedures and logistics. Standing next to him, all I could feel was my own uselessness. At the same time, watching him calmly shoulder everything made me realize he’s remarkable too. You don’t usually notice it day to day, but moments like this are when a person’s true measure shows.

The 49-day memorial has passed, and recently we divided up his belongings. I took his coat, his belt, and a cut-glass tumbler. I imagine I’ll think of him every time I pour a drink into that glass. That feels about right.

So, that’s about it

Writing it all out like this, I realize the past few years brought a lot at once — good and bad alike. I changed jobs, let go of a car I’d driven for years, said goodbye to a cat and to my father, and my mother moved into a care facility. Some things I gained, and some things I’ll never get back.

Even so, life goes on, and I’m doing okay. Managing to restart a blog I’d left untouched for eight years feels like a kind of turning point in itself. Next time, I’d like to write about something lighter — and hopefully a bit more often.