Finding “Yoyu” [Excerpt 15]

Otosan was on his own in Hiroshima while we were back in Tokyo for one week. We needed to make room for Otosan in our tiny condo and more importantly, find a hospital nearby where we could transfer Akira’s mother.

Otosan promised he would be ok. After all, he had been on his own for the last two months.

Two days back in Tokyo and we got a call from the Miyoshi Police in Hiroshima. The officer called to let us know that they had escorted Otosan home the night before and that Otosan was OK. The officer also suggested that we call the local station for details and recommended that perhaps, it would be a good idea if, in the not-too-distant future, Otosan was not living alone. Oh, dear.

Akira knew it wouldn’t amount to much but decided to call Otosan first and try to get the story from him before calling the police station nearest their home. The conversation wouldn’t be easy because though Otosan had no problem talking on the phone, he was hard of hearing.

Listen to the excerpt above to find out what happened, why I felt like it was divine intervention, and what my new priority was!

If you missed any of the previous excerpts, you can find the playlist here.

About the book:

A few years ago, we moved my husband’s parents from a rural part of Japan to live with us in Tokyo in our tiny 800 square foot (73 square-meter) condo. My book, Finding “Yoyu,” is about what it took to decide to move them. It’s also about navigating the Japanese health care system and finding an appropriate nursing home for my mother-in-law while helping my father-in-law transition from a lifetime of farming to retirement in the big city. It’s about how we discovered he had Alzheimer’s and my husband had stage 3 colon cancer. It’s about how I managed to support these two men and keep (or find!) my yoyu all while going through a career change.