Eros + Aphrodite Pt. 1:

Simone’s Notes:

The Japanese language uses three words to convey the English equivalent of "love". Because "love" covers a wide range of emotions and behavioral phenomena, there are nuances distinguishing the three terms. The term ai, which is often associated with maternal love or selfless love, originally referred to beauty and was often used in religious context. Following the Meiji Restoration 1868, the term became associated with "love" in order to translate Western literature. Prior to Western influence, the term koi generally represented romantic love, and was often the subject of the popular Man'yōshū Japanese poetry collection. Koi describes a longing for a member of the opposite sex and is typical interpreted as selfish and wanting. The term's origins come from the concept of lonely solitude as a result of separation from a loved one. Though modern usage of koi focuses on sexual love and infatuation, the Manyō used the term to cover a wider range of situations, including tenderness, benevolence, and material desire. The third term, renai, is a more modern construction that combines the kanji characters for both ai and koi, though its usage more closely resembles that of koi in the form of romantic love.

Jakob can’t sleep together. He looked down at his pregnant wife asleep next to him. It feels too peacefully lately, he thought. The art student couldn’t exactly explain what was going on in his mind. It probably wasn’t anything, but it didn’t help to wonder at least once or twice. He reached forward and brushed aside Riza’s bangs from her forehead.

It’s good to be home, Jakob thought. Art school felt rather lonely compared to his mother, siblings, old friends, wife, and unborn child. Seeing them again for spring break made it all worth his while. Each one held somewhere meaningful for him to come back home to.

Esther constantly worried about her boy while he was away. The endless amount of letters proved this little fact. She had changed since Jakob was born. Even though he was twenty, in college, married, and expecting a baby, Esther still saw him as her baby. He guessed it was because it was common for parents to worry over the baby of the family.

Isaac found himself with a little toy to tease over the months. His older brother still saw him as a little kid. All of the argument in the world wouldn’t convince Isaac otherwise. Still, Jakob missed his joking around and advice on women. This afternoon was no different. Plus with Naomi getting better, the family almost felt whole again.

Speaking of Naomi, she still couldn’t exactly come home yet. It felt better to have her back to old self, however. Even Esther was starting to accept the new experimental treatments being worked on her. Mother and sons counted down to the day that she would finally come home and be independent. Until then, it felt better to visit Naomi more often.

Mikey, Ginny, and Hunter were still doing well. Mikey and Hunter still hadn’t changed at all. They were still with the ones that they loved and their relationships kept growing stronger each day. Ginny finally came back to her senses. She had been wayward since Kate’s death. To be honest, her behavior worried him and the boys. However, she came back and all became right with their world again.

Riza was an important reason for Jakob to come home. They have a long-distance relationship at the moment. He was busy with school and her with her work. They only had time for phone calls and letters in the evenings. Chatter wasn’t much; just interesting things that happened in daily life. Each ended with how much they missed each other, how they couldn’t wait to see each other again, and how much they loved each other. Being home like this made the wait so much worth his while.

Finally, he had one more person he couldn’t wait to come home to. His baby wasn’t born yet, but the waiting was still worth it. Jakob and Riza didn’t wish to know the baby’s gender until it was born. Still, they couldn’t wait to meet their first child once it was born. In fact, Jakob spoke to his wife’s belly when he got off of the train. Last week, Riza managed to get baby furniture and clothes for their unborn child. They only had about three more months to go.

Jakob shrugged to himself. Maybe peaceful nights like this weren’t so bad.