I’m Ran, and I live with my husband, Kota. We don’t have any kids. My dad lives by himself back at my childhood home. Since it’s always just been the two of us against the world, I make it a point to check in on him as much as possible, even now that I’m married. I don’t have a mother. I was told she walked out on us when I was only four years old. It was painful, and I definitely went through some dark times because of it. But thanks to the support of my dad and the people around me, I pulled through. I figured this was just how my life was going to be from here on out… or so I thought.
Before I even knew what was happening, my mom was just gone. For the longest time, I rewrote my own memories to believe she had died… only to find out she actually abandoned us to be with another man. That’s pretty much all the info I have on her. Looking at the old photos, both my mom and I look so happy, smiling away. I have no idea what went wrong back then. Honestly, though, I decided I’m okay with not knowing. Sure, growing up without a mom was hard, but I was happy being with my dad, and she just doesn’t matter to me anymore. At least, that’s what I told myself.