--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That was the only time, as I stood there…" description: "\"“That was the only time, as I stood there, looking at that strange rubbish, feeling the wind coming across those empty fields, that I started to imagin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/kazuo-ishiguro-1029_loss_that-was-the-only-time-as-i-stood-there_273512.jpg" --- # That was the only time, as I stood there, looking at that… ![“That was the only time, as I stood there, looking at that strange rubbish, feeling the wind coming across those empty fields, that I started to imagine just a little fantasy thing, because this was Norfolk after all, and it was only a couple of weeks since I’d lost him. I was thinking about the…” quote by Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/kazuo-ishiguro-1029_loss_that-was-the-only-time-as-i-stood-there_273512.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/kazuo-ishiguro-1029_loss_that-was-the-only-time-as-i-stood-there_273512.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/kazuo-ishiguro-1029_loss_that-was-the-only-time-as-i-stood-there_273512.jpg) > ““That was the only time, as I stood there, looking at that strange rubbish, feeling the wind coming across those empty fields, that I started to imagine just a little fantasy thing, because this was Norfolk after all, and it was only a couple of weeks since I’d lost him. I was thinking about the rubbish, the flapping plastic in the branches, the shore-line of odd stuff caught along the fencing, and I half-closed my eyes and imagined this was the spot where everything I'd ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I was now standing here in front of it, and if I waited long enough, a tiny figure would appear on the horizon across the field, and gradually get larger until I'd see it was Tommy, and he'd wave, maybe even call. The fantasy never got beyond that --I didn't let it-- and though the tears rolled down my face, I wasn't sobbing or out of control. I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, to drive off to wherever it was I was supposed to be.”” [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A narrator reflects on loss and longing, using imagined reunion with a lost loved one as a coping mechanism while confronting grief in a desolate landscape. **In simple terms:** Imagining a reunion eases grief temporarily. Key Takeaway Allow imagination to process loss, then move forward. Themes grief memory imagination healing loneliness Mood melancholic reflective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - mourning - solitary walks - memory triggers - emotional coping Key Concepts psychology nostalgia acceptance Questions to Reflect On - What does the imagined figure represent? - How can you honor loss without lingering in fantasy? A Different Perspective The fantasy may prevent confronting reality, delaying healing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Childhood Washed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood-washed-2668558/) [Imagined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined/) [Imagined Spot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined-spot-2668559/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Lost Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost-childhood-1486235/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Moving on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving-on/) [Wasn Sobbing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wasn-sobbing-2047231/) ## Related quotes > [“I was thinking about the rubbish, the flapping plastic in the branches, the shore-line of odd stuff caught along the fencing, and I half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-was-thinking-about-the-rubbish-the-flapping-plastic-in-the-branches/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [I half closed my eyes and imagined this was the spot where everything I'd ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-half-closed-my-eyes-and-imagined-this-was-the-spot-where-everything/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [The fantasy never got beyond that—I didn’t let it—and though the tears rolled down my face, I wasn’t sobbing or out of control. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/the-fantasy-never-got-beyond-that-i-didn-t-let-it-and-though-the/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [Its an eerie thing. My childhood is being washed away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-simmons/its-an-eerie-thing-my-childhood-is-being-washed-away/) [Richard Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-simmons/) > [“Come on, girl. Don't cry," whispered Frank. "Why not? I can be miserable if I want to. You don't need to try and make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/come-on-girl-don-t-cry-whispered-frank-why-not-i-can-be-miserable-if/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [You always hear these stories of people who grew up in Hollywood, and they're like, 'We lost our childhood.' But I was very fortunate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexa-vega/you-always-hear-these-stories-of-people-who-grew-up-in-hollywood-and/) [Alexa Vega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexa-vega/) > [I lost my childhood. When girls of my age were studying and playing, I was married off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asha-bhosle/i-lost-my-childhood-when-girls-of-my-age-were-studying-and-playing-i/) [Asha Bhosle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asha-bhosle/) > [“Never had the opportunity in her first lost childhood; and in the intervening years her desire for it had doubled over and doubled over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/never-had-the-opportunity-in-her-first-lost-childhood-and-in-the/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [I had proof that I had five senses, that I knew how to get myself to function! And then I lost my childhood...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/i-had-proof-that-i-had-five-senses-that-i-knew-how-to-get-myself-to/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [Where will I find again my lost innocence..my lost dreams..my lost childhood , Where is gone the shade of trees..where I made myself a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/km-ii/where-will-i-find-again-my-lost-innocence-my-lost-dreams-my-lost/) [KM II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/km-ii/) > [“The nostalgia I have been cherishing all these years is a hypertrophied sense of lost childhood, not sorrow for lost banknotes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-nostalgia-i-have-been-cherishing-all-these-years-is-a/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig and lifted its whisper to my thirsty lips: maybe it was the voice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/lost-in-the-forest-i-broke-off-a-dark-twig-and-lifted-its-whisper-to/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [We see these adolescents mourning for a lost childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-elkind/we-see-these-adolescents-mourning-for-a-lost-childhood/) [David Elkind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-elkind/) > [The loss of my childhood was the price for becoming the youngest world champion in history. When you have to fight every day from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/the-loss-of-my-childhood-was-the-price-for-becoming-the-youngest/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [I lost my childhood. I didn't play football or video games. Or have birthdays or the love of a family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-jal/i-lost-my-childhood-i-didn-t-play-football-or-video-games-or-have/) [Emmanuel Jal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-jal/) ## More by Kazuo Ishiguro > [The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/the-evening-s-the-best-part-of-the-day-you-ve-done-your-day-s-work/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [As a writer, I'm more interested in what people tell themselves happened rather than what actually happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/as-a-writer-i-m-more-interested-in-what-people-tell-themselves/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“About him and his wife voting for different parties. A few years ago that would have been unthinkable.” “No doubt.” “Quite extraordinary the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/about-him-and-his-wife-voting-for-different-parties-a-few-years-ago/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“But what is the sense in forever speculating what might have happened had such and such a moment turned out differently? One could presumably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/but-what-is-the-sense-in-forever-speculating-what-might-have-happened/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“Silence is just as likely to indicate the most profound ideas forming, the deepest energies being summoned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/silence-is-just-as-likely-to-indicate-the-most-profound-ideas-forming/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“I don't know why, but it didn't seem an option for more than one of us to storm off, and I wanted to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-don-t-know-why-but-it-didn-t-seem-an-option-for-more-than-one-of-us/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [Our family arrived in England in 1960. At that time I thought the war was ancient history. But if I think of 15 years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/our-family-arrived-in-england-in-1960-at-that-time-i-thought-the-war/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/he-chose-a-certain-path-in-life-it-proved-to-be-a-misguided-one-but/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“For however one may come in later years to reassess one’s achievements, it is always a consolation to know that one’s life has contained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/for-however-one-may-come-in-later-years-to-reassess-one-s/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [You're always in a rush, or else you're too exhausted to have a proper conversation. Soon enough, the long hours, the traveling, the broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/you-re-always-in-a-rush-or-else-you-re-too-exhausted-to-have-a-proper/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [I don't think it's any fun, even if you are one of the most respected authors in the world like Margaret Atwood, to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-don-t-think-it-s-any-fun-even-if-you-are-one-of-the-most-respected/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [I think it's quite difficult to understand what kind of life a writer leads. They might be millionaires, or they might be starving people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-think-it-s-quite-difficult-to-understand-what-kind-of-life-a-writer/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“But this small episode is as good an illustration as any of the hazards of uttering witticisms. By the very nature of a witticism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/but-this-small-episode-is-as-good-an-illustration-as-any-of-the/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [There comes a point when you can more or less count the number of books you're going to write before you die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/there-comes-a-point-when-you-can-more-or-less-count-the-number-of/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [My wife is the most savage critic. She doesn't feel intimidated by my reputation. As far as she's concerned, she's just criticising a boyfriend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/my-wife-is-the-most-savage-critic-she-doesn-t-feel-intimidated-by-my/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) [Explore all 292 Kazuo Ishiguro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) ## More Imagined quotes > [Sometimes it's just enough for me to have the idea. I don't need to see it through to the end. When it actually happens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sedaris/sometimes-it-s-just-enough-for-me-to-have-the-idea-i-don-t-need-to/) [Amy Sedaris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sedaris/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) [Chaz Brenchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaz-brenchley/) > [“Books never cease to astonish me. When I was a child, I knew--in the incontestable way that children know things--that God was an author…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-cooley/books-never-cease-to-astonish-me-when-i-was-a-child-i-knew-in-the/) [Martha Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-cooley/) > [I remember the early 1980s, when I first got one of these fabulous film critic jobs. The downside was sitting through 'Splatteria III: The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hunter/i-remember-the-early-1980s-when-i-first-got-one-of-these-fabulous/) [Stephen Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hunter/) > [There are powers inside of you which, if you could discover and use, would make of you everything you ever dreamed or imagined you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/there-are-powers-inside-of-you-which-if-you-could-discover-and-use/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Live life the way you have imagined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-saquan-wren-iii/live-life-the-way-you-have-imagined/) [Mike Saquan Wren III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-saquan-wren-iii/) > [So basketball has always taken me places that I could have never imagined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaylen-brown/so-basketball-has-always-taken-me-places-that-i-could-have-never/) [Jaylen Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaylen-brown/) > [“We were feeling something they never had—a physical link into the world of the fictional—through the skeletal muscles of the arm to the joystick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-grossman/we-were-feeling-something-they-never-had-a-physical-link-into-the/) [Austin Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-grossman/) > [I never imagined myself as an actor who would be in films. 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Even in translation, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/the-sound-of-things-falling-may-be-a-page-turner-but-it-s-also-a-deep/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [There is, to be sure, sometimes only a small difference between being alert to possible danger and allowing oneself to become terrified to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/there-is-to-be-sure-sometimes-only-a-small-difference-between-being/) [Sherwin B. Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) > [Color must be thought, imagined, dreamed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-moreau/color-must-be-thought-imagined-dreamed/) [Gustave Moreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-moreau/) > [I still have a photo on my wall of the greatest idol I will ever have in my life, and it's myself at eight.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/i-still-have-a-photo-on-my-wall-of-the-greatest-idol-i-will-ever-have/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [I'm of the opinion that the real is imagined and the imagined is quite real. The real is imagined, in the sense that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-of-the-opinion-that-the-real-is-imagined-and-the-imagined-is/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Browse all 580 Imagined quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagined/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“That was the only time, as I stood there, looking at that strange rubbish, feeling the wind coming across those empty fields, that I started to imagine just a little fantasy thing, because this was Norfolk after all, and it was only a couple of weeks since I’d lost him. I was thinking about the rubbish, the flapping plastic in the branches, the shore-line of odd stuff caught along the fencing, and I half-closed my eyes and imagined this was the spot where everything I'd ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I was now standing here in front of it, and if I waited long enough, a tiny figure would appear on the horizon across the field, and gradually get larger until I'd see it was Tommy, and he'd wave, maybe even call. The fantasy never got beyond that --I didn't let it-- and though the tears rolled down my face, I wasn't sobbing or out of control. 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