I (Kaori) live with my husband, Shinichi, and our 3-year-old daughter, Karin. My mother-in-law, father-in-law, and grandmother-in-law all live together in the family home. My grandmother-in-law is the type who always wants things her way and constantly meddles in our lives. Whenever my husband or I were at our wit’s end, my mother-in-law was always there to act as our shield. On the flip side, she’s the one constantly enduring the grandmother-in-law’s nasty comments. According to my husband, she insists that we “just leave it alone,” so no one knows how to help her. I was so worried about her; all I could do was pray for the grandmother-in-law to finally soften her attitude.
My father-in-law’s passing was so sudden that it didn’t even feel real. Grandmother-in-law started blaming my mother-in-law for his death. The sheer unfairness of it made my blood boil, but even then, my mother-in-law just kept saying, “I’m fine.” With just the two of them left in that house, I couldn’t help but worry about what their life would look like from here on out. Our relatives were all trying to cheer her up, too. Every time they did, she’d just give them a small, apologetic smile. I figured she would just keep enduring the same old routine, day after day… or so I thought.