I’m 30-year-old Namika, and I got married about two years ago. I don’t have any children yet. My parents’ home is about a three-hour drive away, where my mother lives by herself. I’m one of three siblings; my older sister (Misato, 34) and her family live nearby, and my younger brother (Ren, 28, single) was living alone in the next prefecture. My mother absolutely adored him, but he recently passed away suddenly in a car accident. While we were grieving the loss of my brother, my mother started saying some bizarre things…
My sister and I don’t entirely fail to understand how our mother feels. I can understand her wanting to see recent photos of her son from the time he was living away from home. But even so, isn’t it a bit of a gray area to go through an adult son’s smartphone? I know she isn’t in a normal state of mind after losing her child. But if I think about it from my brother’s perspective, he would definitely not want anyone looking at his phone. However, my mother has a stubborn side. I want to protect my brother’s dignity somehow, but what should I do?