I’ve been married for sixteen years. My name is Kana, and I live with my husband, Masato, and our three kids—Yuma, who’s in 7th grade, Rei in 5th, and Takuto in 2nd. One day, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with a serious illness, and that’s when I learned my husband had an older brother who’d been shut in for over twenty years. As long as my husband stayed connected to his family, there was no way for our family to avoid being dragged into that situation. I thought divorce was the only answer.
But Rei noticed what I was planning… and told me she’d quit studying for her middle-school entrance exams. Right then, my husband bowed deeply in front of me.
Rei eventually went back to studying. Yuma still heads off to school every day looking cheerful, and Takuto has started getting serious about soccer with Masato’s help. I still have complicated feelings about everything. But more than any of that, my kids matter most So I decided to stay married—at least for the ten years it will take until all of them are adults.
To cut ties with his family, we moved, though we stayed within the same school district. I never imagined my husband would truly sever his relationship with his parents. His decision pushed me to make mine: to keep this marriage going. That said… I have no idea how I’ll feel ten years from now. For now, I just want to focus on our kids, watch them grow day by day, and support them together with my husband.