A Day of Wrapping Up in a Scarf

On snowy days,
I would wear a knit hat,
layer a down hood over it,
wrap my scarf
tightly around me,
and walk in my rain boots.

I always
headed to my parents' house
as if I were going to work.

Even when snow
hit my glasses with a flurry,
it didn't bother me;
I was in work mode.

Since it was a short distance of about a 15-minute walk,
I was lucky...

When my mother reached her 80s,
it took her time to get to the entrance,
so I would come and go with my own key.

I would press the intercom,
brush the snow off quickly,
call out in a loud voice,
“Good morning, it’s Mama!”

and while listening to
the usual lighthearted
door chime welcome,
I would close the door.

After a breath or so,
the room door
would open just a crack,

and there,
with just her face peeking out,
was my mother,
wearing a beaming smile.

“Oh! Thank you, Mama!”

Since I am the mother of her grandchild,
I was called Mama,
and my husband was Papa.

Slowly and deliberately,
she would sandwich my hands between hers,

saying, “Oh, they’re so cold, you must have been freezing...”

Even though her own hands would get cold,
she would say, “Oh, it was cold, it was cold,”
and rub them for me.

When my mother went out in winter,
at first she wore wool jersey gloves,
but when the cold weather arrived,
she would wear
leather gloves with linings.

They were such small gloves...

The header image is by creator “Ie ni oru”.
Thank you very much.