Owen’s Story pt.4

AN: so what happens after that first summer with Mei Mei? How did Bonsai for Life develop, and what was changing in your own life?

OG: Bonsai for Life kept growing over the next 10 years, but it was a bigger shift for me personally. I arrived in Kuji thinking two years and I'd move on, but once Bonsai for Life took root, I fell in love with the project and with the town of Kuji itself, and I started to imagine staying for good. Around then I met Itsuka. Everyone called her Suki. She was a year older than me and worked with the Harbor Authority in a fairly high-level position. She was successful and really loved her job; we clicked immediately. It felt like a perfect match. As that relationship grew, I stepped back from the daily running because Mei Mei was doing it so well, better than I ever did. She took charge, had hired some part-time help, and really kept the garden thriving. We had visitors every day. I truly felt that I was not needed at BfL anymore! Obviously, people around town always saw me as the "‘Bonsai Foreigner’ but it was really Mei Mei’s gig now. Meanwhile, Suki and I got a house and settled in with living together - it was idyllic! Eventually I summoned the courage and I proposed - we had a small wedding in Kuji, but so many people came. It was one of the happiest days of my life. After a short Okinawa honeymoon, we returned to Kuji with fresh ideas for our future lives together. We loved to house we were currently renting and so we spoke to the owner and asked if we could buy the property and, after a bit of negotiation, we settled on a price. My life with Suki in Kuji was truly beginning and we couldn’t be happier, and within 6 months we were pregnant! There were also massive changes at the BfL centre - we turned the old apartment into offices and created an indoor bonsai room for the trees that preferred to be indoors. We also turned one of the other rooms into a little clinic where we looked after bonsai trees that needed special attention. The most popular room was the Bonsai Learning Centre where visitors could actually learn about caring for the trees in real life; with trees to practice on and with a trained instructor to give advice and tuition. These indoor rooms became very popular with visitors, especially the families. Our landlord had always supported BfL and he could see that the project was a great addition to his hometown of Kuji. It was a success in a town that had been struggling for the past few decades and generally everyone was supportive - we even had a few visitors that would come to Kuji to see our bonsai project, and they’d often stay and explore Kuji itself. It was a small addition to the life of Kuji but very welcomed nonetheless. So there was a lot of goodwill around town. It was the moment I realized Bonsai for Life wasn't just my garden anymore, it was something much bigger. And Mei Mei was at the center of it all.