As an avid fan of “The Midnight Diner” series, I knew I would enjoy this book. I only didn’t read it earlier because I was relying on serendipity - for it to somehow fall on my lap. But since I have given Libby another shot, I thought I would be proactive.

This is the kind of book that can be consumed on a lazy afternoon. Divided into four chapters, strategically covering the four seasons, it brought me on an emotional journey into the lives of not only the cafe staff, but also the supporting characters who patronise it to travel back into the past/future.

The thing that struck me most about the book was the omoiyai 想いやい of the characters. Some characters got to know of their impending death because of a time-travel visit from a loved one in their lives. Instead of expressing shock and incredulity, they shed happy tears for the visitor and expressed nothing but well wishes. I don’t know if I would have reacted so stoically if I were them.

Although this is a pleasantly palatable slice-of-life storybook, it left me with a unique insight into living one’s life. A female character was grieving over her miscarriage; her fetus lived for 70 days. Her male friend said that since “the child used its seventy-day-long life for your happiness” (direct quote), she should live happily from then on so that she could ascribe meaning to its life. I swallowed a metaphorical lump in my throat when I read this line. As a devotee of Japanese dramas, I have had seen this kind of thinking expressed by the characters, but this was the first time the philosophy of living well for the sake of those dearly departed hit me so poignantly. Nothing heavy like a sledgehammer, more like the stick you use to whack mole rats with at the arcade. Nonetheless, I hope to internalise this way of thinking and not forget Cafe Funiculi Funicula.