When the alarm clock rang, Yurika woke up immediately. Every morning, she was already awake before the alarm went off. And for the past month, whenever she woke up, she thought, "Today is the day I'm going to write a letter." However, she still hasn't been able to write a letter.
Looking at the bed next to me, I saw my granddaughter Eliza sleeping soundly.
"I'm so glad I didn't have a seizure today!"
When I opened the curtains, it was still dark outside. Come to think of it, it was dark outside a month ago too.
When I opened the door, the guard dog Rikki was growling strangely. I looked and saw one of the earrings lying on the doorstep. "This is Chris's. But why is it here?"
With a bad feeling, I rushed to my wife Christina's room. At first glance, nothing had changed. But when I opened the closet, I found that most of her clothes were gone. Her shoes and travel bag were also gone.
A month ago, I wasn't too worried when Christina didn't come back, thinking, "It's not the first time, so she'll probably be back next week."
However, this time, she still hadn't come back even after a month had passed. During that time, she only contacted me once. "How are you? I'm in Maceio with a colleague from the hospital right now. Please take care of Eliza." That was the end of it.
As I was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, I remembered Christina's call and decided, "I'd better not write her a letter!"
Yurika is 58 years old. Her husband is 63 and nearing retirement age, but if he doesn't continue working, their life will be difficult. Her husband says he wants to go to Japan to work, but Yurika says, "It's impossible, it's impossible." Her husband has worked in an office job for 35 years, so there's no way he could handle physical labor. Furthermore, he often complains of physical problems, such as a sore back and fatigue. Yurika tries not to listen to her husband's complaints.
Their only son, Kay, is 28 years old. After graduating from high school, he worked for an insurance company, but he lost his job in December of last year, and by March of this year, he had not been able to find a new job. Because of this, his wife Christina complained to him almost every day. "I'm doing a good job as a nurse, so why don't you try harder? Don't you think about your family?" she would say, so in the end, Kay decided to go to Japan alone to work.
After going to Japan, Kei called his family every Sunday morning as promised, but he only spoke to Christina once. Yurika lied several times, saying, "I was on the night shift, so she's still asleep." She couldn't tell her son the truth. She couldn't tell him that Christina had left their young child with Yurika and gone out with friends at night. If her son found out, he would come flying back home. He would surely search for his wife. If that happened, he would lose his job in Japan.
This morning I thought to myself, "I'll give up on writing a letter," but I decided to pick up my pen in between housework.
How are you? It looks really hot over there. I watch it every day on NHK.
Everyone is fine here, so don't worry.
I'm really grateful for the money that Kei sends me every month! Dad will be reaching his first appointment soon, so Mom is nagging me to find a job.
Brazil's economy is getting worse and worse, and more and more people are losing their jobs.
Do you remember Jun, who went to high school with Kei? He graduated from college and got a job at a good company, but lost it and now he's selling Pastel 2 at a tent in the morning market.
My neighbor, Mr. Watanabe, is busy preparing to go to Japan with his family. He wants his three sons to go to a university in Japan. "Brazil is no good anymore."
By the way, in July, a lot of cherry blossoms bloomed, which is rare. It feels like I'm in Japan! Penaki 3 They fall soon though. The enclosed photo is of Eliza and her mother in front of the cherry blossoms at Ibirapuera Park. They look so cute, don't they? Both of them...
I wrote a lot of things, but I just couldn't write about Christina.
"Let's not do that. It's not something that can be resolved through a letter."
It was time to pick up Eliza from the nursery school. I planned to stop by the post office on my way home, so I quickly wrote "Don't come back! Do your best in Japan!" in large letters on the back of a photo of Sakura and put it in an envelope.
Notes:
1. Retirement Age
2. Brazilian dumplings
3. Unfortunately
© 2016 Laura Honda-Hasegawa
