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 only stops by the house once in a blue moon. Then one day, Tatsuya reached out, saying there was someone he wanted us to meet. But the people he brought home were Chisato (35), a single mother, and her son, Haruki (5). Both my husband and I told him there was no way we could support this marriage.
I really wanted to handle the conversation more calmly. It wasn’t like I wanted to attack Chisato from the start. But I couldn’t see this as anything other than a marriage where Tatsuya would just be shoulderng half of her burdens, and I just started to cry. I know deep down that Tatsuya should be the one to decide his own happiness, but… Before I knew it, I was caught in an emotional shouting match with him. My husband finally stepped in to de-escalate things, and eventually, Tatsuya left with Chisato and Haruki. Thankfully, since Nami had been looking after him, Haruki didn’t seem to hear any of our argument. The only small comfort was seeing Haruki smile and wave goodbye as they left.