It’s already Wednesday, but those Valentine’s feels keep coming. Today’s reminder that there is wonderful, true, unconditional love in the world comes to us courtesy of an elderly couple living in Shintomi Town, Japan. They’ve been together for decades and if what Mr. Kuroki did for his wife (only named Mrs. Kuroki by Rocket News) isn’t a sign of true love, I don’t know what to believe anymore.
The Kurokis were married in 1956 and spent thirty years tending to their farm, never taking a rest, in the hopes that one day they’d retire and spend a good deal of time visiting Japan. The universe, unfortunately, had other plans in store. Instead of a sprawling tour of the country, Mrs. Kuroki was stricken with complications that rendered her blind.
After 30 years of marriage, however, and at the age of 52, Mrs Kuroki suddenly encountered a problem with her eyes, which turned out to be a complication from diabetes, causing her sight to fail just one week later. Feeling her life was over, Mrs Kuroki was devastated at the prospect of not being able to go on the trip she and her husband had always dreamed about and didn’t want to face a life of immobility. As a result, she shut herself away from the world and began living a life of seclusion in her home. It pained her husband to see her normally cheerful expression become one of sadness, and he thought that if they could at least have a visitor or two each day, it would encourage his wife to come out of her shell.
And what better way to bring visitors than to create something beautiful that both Mrs. Kuroki and the outside world could enjoy? That must have been what Mr. Kuroki thought when he decided to spend two years building his wife a gigantic pink garden, brimming with sweetly-scented shibazakura flowers. Not only did it get her out of her shell, but the location’s now a popular spot for people to visit, maybe even a particularly nice location to ask the person you’re ready to be with forever for their hand in marriage?
And Mrs. Kuroki? If the following photos are any indication, then the garden’s inspiration, who’s been reported wandering the grounds often, then the plan worked beautifully.
(Via Rocket News 24)
