Finding “Yoyu” [Excerpt 24]

Akira and Otosan returned from their trip to Hiroshima in the evening. Even though they had just said goodbye to Fuku-chan, Otosan was in high spirits when he came through our front door. I was relieved to hear that he didn’t question Akira when it was time to leave the family home and return to Tokyo.

After a late dinner, Otosan went to his room to unpack and we went to bed shortly thereafter.

The following morning, Akira was up earlier than I expected and already dressed when he came out into the living room. He had a committee meeting at the university. Suddenly my plans for the day had to change and it felt like déjà vu!

Otosan had an appointment with the doctor, and once again, I would have to take him. I felt my whole body radiating anger. We exchanged a few unpleasant words, and Akira left without eating breakfast.

Taking care of Otosan was supposed to be a team effort, and instead, I felt taken for granted. Fortunately, my resentment didn’t last long, and I found a win-win solution.

Listen to the latest excerpt above to find out how I calmed down and what solution I put in place.

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.