■

T-shirt

Last month I stocked a T-shirt that was printed with cranes, the rising sun, pine branches, and Japanese apricot branches. It was the happiest design in the Japanese world. It was not too loud, so I like it. I thought that a cotton T-shirt didn't match winter season, but the design matched new year season. So I bought it and I displayed the T-shirt in a remarkable place.

A customer was interested in the T-shirt, but she didn't buy it. She said, "I'll buy it in spring if nobody buys it."

She made a strong impression on me by other things. First, she maintained eye contact, when she talked to me. She looked energetic. Second, she bought clothes that I liked too. I felt that we were on the same wavelength. Third, she came to my shop Wednesday and Thursday last week with her son and her daughter. They looked like they were all living together happily.

Somehow I like her, I wanted her to wear the T-shirt, so I moved the T-shirt to an unremarkable place.

Tuesday this week, I heard that she died in a traffic accident. Her son came to my shop and talked to the salespeople of my shop about that. He bought the T-shirt for his mother, and he put it into her casket. She was concerned about whether the T-shirt would sell or not. He said that with tears, and he moved the salespeople to tears, though they didn't know her.

When I heard the story, tears came to my eyes. If I was in my shop at that time, tears would have run down my cheeks in large drops. I wanted to say something to her son. But I wouldn't have been able to say anything, if I was in my shop at that time.