I (Hiroko) live with my husband and our college-aged daughter, Nami (20). My son, Tatsuya (24), is in his second year of work. He lives on his own in the city and rarely shows his face back home. Then one day, Tatsuya reached out, saying there was someone he wanted us to meet. But the person he brought to the house was a woman with a child. To our shock, she was a single mother raising a young boy. I was completely blindsided by this situation and didn’t know what to do.
The woman Tatsuya brought home with marriage on his mind, Chisato Imai, was a single mother eleven years his senior. Naturally, neither my husband nor I could give our blessing. I’d seen this coming, so I had Nami take little Haruki into another room beforehand. I knew this wasn’t something a child should hear. As expected, the discussion got heated. I’m sure Tatsuya’s feelings are genuine, and it’s clear Chisato needs him, too. But even so, I just couldn’t bring myself to accept this marriage.