March 15, 2021

My dearest,

You tell me the wagashi maker is inconsistent with her craft. You have been buying strawberry daifuku for your teatime lately so you have had a chance to contrast and compare.

If you buy two – and you almost always buy two, sometimes three if you are greedy – one is inevitably imbalanced so that when you take a bite, half might contain the entire strawberry and the other none at all.

Just the sweet anko paste, with no treasure within. It is a disappointment.

Ah but my dear, you will always have one that is just perfect. One bite and you slice the strawberry heart in half. Beautiful and delicious in equal measure.

I have no strawberry daifuku to devour here where I am, where I wait to rejoin you, but I savour your every bite as you spin your tales, every episode a new adventure. I am there with you, tasting the anko, the strawberry, the mochi, the sweetness of our life together.

Yours, ever and always.