Dear Mikairu,
I still remember the first time we met. Robert was trying to play matchmaker and he brought you to one of the MIT boat cruises to make the introduction... You looked tall, strong, with this smirky smile on your face, a really cute accent, soft voice, and an eyebrow ring that looked so rebel (especially for the MIT crowd :)). We went on a couple of dates and decided to be friends instead - I know, most of the time, people say that just to be polite, but we really became great friends... we talked about everything... music, life, depression, therapy, politics, meditation, love, dating, gambling, hippies, hamsters, drum and bass, boyfriends, girlfriends, and MIT. You quickly became one of my best friends I can talk about "forbidden things" with... and someone I knew I could lean on when the time got tough...
Fast forward, it is 2016 and we were both writing our PhD thesis... we made a pact - studying together at the student center, and send each other the finished chapters... all I remember now is the smell from Anna's Taqueria's burritos you ordered and the snacks we were trying to chew loudly with a bunch of undergrads around.... and those emails we sent to each other, very seriously timed, with the chapters...
You also helped me with the job-searching journey... and I will never forget when you said.. Alex, come on, you will get this job, you are perfect for the job!
When I went through a soul-crushing heartbreak in 2018, I came to you, in Tokyo... you and Lisa spent time with me every day.. you took me to the famous Robot show, shared with me your favorite Japanese whiskey, and took me to IAIDO, the Japanese sward experience, and probably the biggest electronics superstore in the world... we were making fun of all the cameras that were out of style, but we had so much fun!
I've always asked you and hoped that you'd move back to the US, so we could look after each other.. and now... you are looked after by God..
I miss you, my dear friend, Mikairu! I will never forget you!!