コロナ禍の2020年夏、両親を高齢者施設に送り出した。
その半年前に糖尿病で右足を切断した母と、水頭症で足の不自由な父。
老老介護で過ごしてきた築40年の実家で生活することは難しくなっていた。
都内で生活することへの未練を断ち切り、のどかな場所に行きたいという希望。
桜並木の美しい茨城県土浦の片隅に、ひっそりと拠点を移動した。
2022年春、車椅子の両親を姉弟が連れ出して、桜の下を歩いてくれた。
認知症を併発していた母が、童心にかえって嬉しそうに微笑んでいたという。
その秋に母が他界してからの父の落胆ぶりは日増しに強くなり、
面会のたびに「早く母のところに行きたい」と呟く姿に、胸が強打されてしまう。
2024年春は、予報に反して桜の開花が遅れていた。
直前まで粘ってチケットを確保して、タイミングよくこの時期に帰国ができた。
昨年病床に倒れた姉も、強靭な努力のリハビリでほぼ回復しつつあり、
姉弟３人揃って、父に会いに行くことができた。
まだお墓に入れていない母の遺骨と共に、静かに暮らす父。
彼にとっての「パーフェクトデイズ」は、母と過ごした時間だけだったけれど、
その日々を思い返しながら生きていくこともまた「パーフェクトデイズ」であって欲しいと、
無力な娘は静かに願う。
たった1週間で散りゆく桜を眺めながら、人生の儚さを胸に抱く春。
In the summer of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we sent our parents to an elderly care facility.
Six months earlier, my mother had her right leg amputated due to diabetes, and my father was crippled by hydrocephalus.
It had become difficult for them to live in the 40-year-old family home where they had spent their lives as elderly caregivers.
They wanted to leave their attachment to live in Tokyo and go to a peaceful place.
They quietly moved their base of operations to a beautiful corner of Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, where the cherry trees grow.
The spring in 2022, my sister and brother took my parents, who used wheelchairs, for a walk under the cherry blossoms.
My mother, who was suffering from dementia, was smiling happily as if she had returned to her childhood.
After my mother passed away in the fall of the year 2022, my father's disappointment grew stronger by the day,
Every time I visit him, he mutters, "I can't wait to see my wife," which hits me hard.
In the spring of 2024, contrary to the forecast, the blooming of the cherry blossoms was delayed.
I persisted until the last minute to secure an air ticket and was able to return home at the right timing.
My elder sister, who fell ill on her sickbed last year, is almost recovering with solid efforts in rehabilitation,
All three of us were able to visit my father.
My father lives quietly with my mother's remains, which have not yet been placed in a grave.
For him, "Perfect Days" were only the time he spent with my mom,
The helpless daughter silently hopes that living his life while reflecting on those days will also be "Perfect Days" for him.
Watching the cherry blossoms fall in just one week, spring is when one feels the fragility of life in one's heart.
(spring, 2022)