光希まさとの創造の世界へようこそ！

つれづれなるままに、硯にむかひて、心に移りゆくよしなし事を、そこはかとなく書きつくれば、あやしうこそものぐるほしけれ。

母の告別式、弥生の三日なりき。

式の始まる二時間半前、司会の者より「亡き母の思い出を聞かせたまえ」との申し出あり。姉、弟、我の三人、思い出をあれこれと語りたり。その中にて姉が語りし一言——「母は毎月、近くのコメダ珈琲にてお友達と集い、珈琲を楽しみにしておりました」と。

されど我らはそのまま式の準備へと移りぬ。

十一時半、告別式始まりたり。祭壇に目をやれば、供え物の傍らに、馥郁たる珈琲の香りを漂わせる一杯が静かに置かれておりしを——姉がふと気づき、我に耳打ちしたり。「コメダ珈琲やで」と。

驚きたり。

式の後に知れたることなれど、葬儀ディレクターのSさんが、我ら遺族の語りし言葉をそっと胸に留め、わずか二時間の間に奔走して、母の好みし珈琲を祭壇に供えてくれたりしという。しかもその費えは、Sさんの自腹なりきと聞きて、我らは深く恐縮したり。

「お気持ちですから」とSさんは静かに微笑みたり。

我ら遺族ですら、思いもつかなんだことなり。母が月に一度、友と語らい、心ほどけた時を過ごしたあの珈琲の香りを——Sさんは、ただ一言の聞き取りから汲み取り、母への最後の贈り物として捧げてくれたのだ。

かかる心遣いは、いかなる金銭をもって計ることはできぬ。

Sさんはまだ若き女性なれど、その魂の深さ、人への慈しみは、いかなる老練の者にも勝りたり。このような方に母の最後を取り仕切っていただけたこと——これもまた、神様からのご縁に違いなし。

我が葬儀はまだまだ先のことなれど、その折にはぜひともSさんにお願い申し上げたいと、心ひそかに思いたり。

Sさんの人生に、幸多からんことを。

ああ、人との出会いは、まことに尊く、美しきものなり。神様に、心より感謝申し上げます。

つれづれなるままに　光希まさと

Koki Masato’s Tsurezuregusa — Modern Chapter”The Scent of Coffee at the Altar”２４７

Welcome to the creative world of Koki Masato.

Idly, as is my wont, I sit before my inkstone — and set down, without purpose or direction, the thoughts that drift through my heart. How strangely they consume me.

My mother’s funeral was held on the third day of March.

Two and a half hours before the ceremony began, the officiant came to us with a request: “Please share with us your memories of your mother.” My elder sister, my younger brother, and I spoke together, recalling this and that. Among the memories my sister offered was this: “Every month, our mother would gather with her friends at the nearby Komeda Coffee, and she truly looked forward to those cups of coffee.”

And with that, we moved on to the preparations for the ceremony.

At half past eleven, the funeral began. Casting my eyes toward the altar, I noticed — beside the offerings that had been laid there — a single cup, quietly placed, from which drifted the rich and gentle fragrance of coffee. My sister noticed it first, and leaned close to whisper to me: “It’s from Komeda Coffee.”

I was astonished.

It was only afterward that we learned the full story. Ms. S, the funeral director, had quietly held our words in her heart — and in the span of barely two hours, had gone out of her way to place upon the altar a cup of the very coffee our mother had loved. And when we later discovered that the expense had come from Ms. S’s own pocket, we were overcome with humble gratitude.

“It was simply my feeling,” Ms. S said quietly, with a gentle smile.

It was something that had not occurred to any of us — her own family. From a single overheard remark, Ms. S had understood the warmth of those monthly gatherings — our mother sitting with her friends, her heart at ease, a cup of coffee in her hands — and she had offered it as a final gift, a last farewell.

Such thoughtfulness cannot be measured by any sum of money.

Ms. S is still a young woman. And yet the depth of her soul, her tenderness toward others, surpasses that of any seasoned elder I have known. That someone of such spirit was entrusted with guiding our mother’s final passage — this too, I am certain, was a bond bestowed upon us by God.

My own time is still far off. But when that day comes, I find myself quietly hoping that Ms. S will be the one to guide me as well.

May her life be filled with happiness.

Ah — how precious, how beautiful, are the encounters we are given with other human beings. To God, I offer my most heartfelt gratitude.

Idly, as is my wont — Koki Masato