Yesterday, while I was looking for something, an album caught my eye so I stopped searching and started looking at the album. It was 2:00 a.m. and, although it was deep in the night, my sleepiness vanished and I became wide awake. I have a lot of pictures from the time I just graduated from high school up to my current 4th year in college.

In the old pictures everyone, including myself, had childish faces. There are people who have changed their images completely, with their hairstyles and now stylish makeup, from those faces that were chubbier than they are now. As they grow older, women are constantly polishing themselves and becoming cute. I wonder if this is because they are in love. I deeply felt that each and every one of us has changed. And, quite frankly, the thought came to me that I, myself, am unexpectedly changing.

There is also one more thing that I felt. It was that I have encountered many kinds of people. I have come to have had many precious encounters. One of these was a senior member who I met through a club that I was reminded of, even though she graduated this past March. This senior member was a fairly difficult girl who was stubborn and only showed her strong side and didn’t show weakness. I was in a position to be bullied, so I was always on edge.

However, this senior member was amenable and would do things like take me all kinds of places outside of the club or invite me out to eat after club activities when I was alone and sad. Even though I was made fun of and, because of our personalities, we banged heads over small things, I liked that senior. Our sense of humor matched perfectly and I was able to have many experiences because she was there.

Because of human connections, we can broaden our horizons and come in contact with ways of thinking that are different from our own…Yes…It’s something to be thankful for. Thinking this, I started looking for the thing I had been searching for once again.
 
 
写真を見ながら

　昨日探しものをしている時、偶然、アルバムが目に入ったのでついつい探すのを中断して、それを見始めてしまった。ＡＭ：２：００で夜も深くなっていたけれど、眠たいのを通り越して、すっかり目がさえていた。自分が高校を卒業したばかりの頃から現在の大学４年に至るまでの写真がわんさか出てきた。

　昔の写真は、ウチを含めみんなすごく幼い顔をしていた。髪型からオシャレの仕方、更には、今よりポッチャリして顔の雰囲気まで異なっている子もいた。女の子は、年をおうごとにみんな自分を磨いて可愛くなっている。恋をしたからなのかなぁ。みんなそれぞれに変化しているなぁとしみじみ。そして正直、自分も意外に変化しているなぁと思った。

　そして、もう一つ感じたことがある。それは、いろんな人との出会いがあったなぁ…ということ。いろんな貴重な出会いをしてきた。その中の一つで、この３月に卒業してしまったけれど、サークルを通して出会った先輩のことを思い返した。その先輩は頑固で弱みを見せない強がってばっかりの結構～難しい女の人だ。ウチは、結構、いびられるポジションだったのでいつもビクビクしていた。

　でもその先輩はノリがよくって、サークル以外でもウチをいろんなところに連れて行ってくれたり、ウチが一人で寂しい時、サークルの終りに食べに誘ってくれたりした。色々からかわれたり、お互いの性格上、些細なことでぶつかったりもしたが、ウチはその先輩が、結構、好きだったりする。冗談の息はピッタリだったし、ウチがいろんな経験(何かは語らないけど。)できたのもその先輩あってのことだったし。そして本気でぶつかり合えてたから。

　人の縁で、いろんな世界が広がったり自分とは違った考え方に触れられたりして、う～む、、、ありがたいものですね。と思いつつ、また探してたものを探し始めた。