To Hirari-chan
Hello. I'm Ryoko Tokunaga. I'm a grandmother.
I'm sure you were surprised by this sudden message. I'm really sorry for not replying at all.
I have read all of Hirari-chan's letters (22 in total). I have carefully stored the photos and Christmas cards. They are my grandmother's treasures.
You may be wondering why he never responded to you until now.
I'm sorry. A lot has happened. Firstly, after your father Leo died in an accident, it took me a long time to recover. Also, a lot of hard things happened during that time.
I know that your father helped out at the store, but things hadn't been going well for a while, and in 2008, we finally decided to close the store. But Hirari-chan's grandfather was so stressed out that he was hospitalized for six months. It was around that time that Hirari-chan started sending me letters in Japanese. When my grandfather read them, he was very happy.
Hirari-chan's letters helped my grandfather to feel better and encouraged him in his fight against the disease. Thanks to the letters, my grandfather was able to persevere and try his best to get better as quickly as possible. The doctors and nurses were so surprised that he recovered faster than they had expected.
On the day he was discharged from the hospital, Grandpa happily showed everyone the letter from Hirari, saying, "This is a letter from my granddaughter Hirari who lives in Brazil. She's an angelic granddaughter!"
I am truly grateful to Hirari-chan. Thank you so much!
After closing the store, Leo's brother Gen, Hirari-chan's uncle, started a new business, cultivating organic vegetables, which had been his dream. But Gen's wife Keiko was strongly against it. Keiko was originally suited to business and had always worked in front of the store. But when the store closed, Keiko, who was not good at housework or farm work, may have felt that she had nowhere to go. Soon after, she returned to her parents' home with her two children, and a year later Gen and his wife divorced.
We think that was good.
Do you know? When Hirari-chan's mom and dad got married in Brazil and returned to Japan, Grandpa wanted them to live together under the same roof. But Leo was reluctant and decided to live in the next town. He probably thought it would be complicated to have two wives in the same house. And before Hirari-chan and her friends returned to Brazil, Grandpa asked her mom if she wanted to live with us, but she ended up returning to Brazil.
It's hard to understand the thoughts and actions of adults. But you don't have to worry anymore, Hirari-chan. Grandma has been waiting for the time to come when we could talk about the gap of the past 10 years.
Hirari-chan wrote in her letter that she listens to Japanese songs on YouTube, so my grandmother also watched it. She listened to the songs of Hirari-chan's favorite singer-songwriter, Miwa, and became a fan of hers too.
I'm already looking forward to this year's "Kohaku Uta Gassen". Even if we're far apart, let's listen to Miwa at the same time! Grandma is eating New Year's Eve noodles. It's morning in Brazil where Hirari-chan is, so I wonder what she'll eat? Ice cream? Or "Panettone 1 "? (Do you remember? You once sent me a photo saying that "Panettone" is a must-have for Christmas, right? It looked delicious.)
I'll give you a small present. A DVD of Miwa's new song "Yui" and a photo. In the photo are my grandpa and uncle Minamoto working in the vegetable field. I wanted to take a photo of my grandma as well, but my grandpa said with a laugh, "Hilari-chan will be surprised if I don't wear makeup," so I didn't take a photo with her.
Hirari-chan, you have two more years until you graduate from high school. Are you planning to continue your studies in Brazil?
This may come as a surprise to you, but both Grandpa and Grandma really want to bring Hirari-chan and her mother to Japan. Let's take our time to discuss it together.
Well, please stay healthy and give my best to your mother.
From Grandma
December 24, 2016
Note
1. Italian Christmas cake
© 2016 Laura Honda-Hasegawa
