A Wonderful Gift

What a wonderful gift! I drove to my son’s school today to pick him up as usual when I saw him running towards our car carrying something under his arm. Upon settling into the passenger’s seat, he pulled out an object wrapped in paper and tape, saying in his typical minimalist manner, “It’s done.” When I asked him if I could open it, without meeting my gaze, he shyly responded with a quiet, “Yes.” I slowly unwrapped the paper and inside was the project he had been subtly mentioning to me in passing conversation for the past couple of weeks: a breadboard!

Since September, Haru had been enrolled in his school’s woodworking program, diligently attending studio classes a few times a week. Because of his recent accident where he broke his collarbone and required surgery, Haru was forbidden by the school’s administration to participate in woodworking until next semester. And yet, even though he knew that the class would no longer count towards his credits or graduation requirements, Haru quietly continued to attend meetings just so that he could finish the breadboard he had been making for me.

I can imagine that he would have wanted his first completed project in the class to be something for himself; to think that instead he decided to make something for me — it’s the best gift I could have ever asked for.

なんて嬉しいプレセントでしょう！春を迎えに学校まで行くと、急ぎ足で手に何かを抱えて車に近づいてきた春。車の座席に座るなり無造作に梱包用の紙とテープで包んだ塊を私に差し出し「出来たよ」の一言。「今開けていい？」と聞くと目を合わせないように「いいよ」の一言。 中には話には聞いていた私への贈り物・ブレッドボードが入っていたのです！

春は9月からアートクラスの選択授業で木工を選択し、週に数回のペースでクラスに通っていました。つい数週間前の鎖骨の事故で学校側より木工の授業は来学期まで休むように言われがっかりしていた様子は見せていたのですが、なんと本人は授業日数にカウントされないのを承知で私にこっそりと教室に通い肩に力のかからない仕上げの作業をコツコツと進めていたのでした。

本当は最初の作品を自分のために作りたかっただろうに。一生大事に使っていきたい宝物です。