I stood barefoot as Masako pinned a hem into my jeans. “My mom’s in the next room. She’s 101 years old,” she shared. Waiting to die, I assumed. Later, I chatted with Masako in her living room. “I’ll get my mom,” she said. I turned to see an older woman, her sparkling eyes matching her grin and spiky white hair. She rolled past me in a wheelchair, propelling it with spinning feet. At the window, she glanced out, looked back at me, and spoke in Japanese. “What did she say?” I asked Masako. “She says, ‘It’s a beautiful day outside.’”
Sonya Ewan is a Minneapolis-based sportswriter turned memoirist. Her work has been published online to Brevity Blog and HerStry. sonyaewan.com. Facebook and Instagram: @sonyaewan. “Sunlight” is the winner of our EXCEED EXPECTATIONS contest, part of our 2026 Micromemoir Marathon.