I think Japan. After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were in ruins, disease, poverty, and crime were rampant. The Japanese government took great measures in uplifting its people in the coming decades. By the 1960s, Japans economy was one the fastest growing in the world. Japanese exports grew to dominate world trade as major corporations such as Sony and Toyota became household names. Today Japan has one of the best health core systems and the lowest street crime rates. It also has a lot of millionaires.

Which line from extremely loud and incredibly close reveals a melancholy tone? as for the bracelet mom wore to the funeral, what i did was i converted dad’s last voice message into morse code, and i used sky-blue beads for silence, maroon beads for breaks between letters . . she said it was the best gift she’d ever received. i asked her if it was better than the edible tsunami, from when i was interested in edible meteorological events. she said, “different.” i wanted to tell her she shouldn’t be playing scrabble yet. or looking in the mirror. or turning the stereo any louder than what you needed just to hear it. it wasn’t fair to dad, and it wasn’t fair to me. i made her other morse code jewelry with dad’s messages—a necklace, an anklet, some dangly earrings, a tiara—but the bracelet was definitely the most beautiful, probably because it was the last, which made it the most precious.