The First and Last Rice Ball from Mom

No. 568 The story introduced this time

Here, we feature stories that have become topics on the internet and in the news as "tear-jerking good stories," along with videos uploaded to platforms like YouTube.

This story is from "[A Moving True Story for Mother's Day] The First and Last Rice Ball from Mom," a lecture by Dr. Minoru Kamata, Honorary Director of Suwa Central Hospital, published in the July 2012 issue of the monthly magazine "Chichi" under "Chichi Readers' Gathering."

There was a YouTube video based on this story, so I will introduce it as well.

Article Content

■ The driving force for living is "for someone else"

Among the patients I cared for until the end, there was a woman who suffered from scirrhous gastric cancer.

Diagnosed with three months to live, she came to the palliative care ward of Suwa Central Hospital.

One day, while we were drinking tea and talking on the balcony of her hospital room, she said this to me.

"Doctor, I already know I won't be saved. But please, let me live just a little bit longer."

She was 42 years old at the time, you see.

While I thought that was only natural, I was at a loss for words and just drank my tea in silence.

Then she said,

"I have children. I want to live until my child's graduation ceremony. I want to see it as a mother."

That is what she said.

It was September. She only had three months left, she could only live until about December.

But she said she wanted to live until spring to see her child's graduation ceremony.

I think the thought of doing it for her child changed something.

A miracle happened.

She lived until spring and was able to attend the graduation ceremony.

This has been scientifically proven; for example, research has been published showing that people who live with hope have more active natural killer cells that fight against cancer.

I suspect that in her case, too, hope activated the three invisible systems within her body: the endocrine, autonomic nervous, and immune systems.

Then, something even more mysterious happened.

She had two children.

The older one was a high school senior, and the younger one was a junior.

We hoped that we could at least keep her alive until the older child's graduation ceremony.

But after being told she had three months to live, she survived for another year and eight months, and was able to see both of her children graduate.

And then, about a month later, she passed away.

After she passed, her daughter came to see me and told me a story that truly surprised me.

We doctors, wanting to respect her desire to live for her children, would grant her permission to go out whenever her condition improved slightly.

"Every time my mother came home, she would make us a bento lunch," she said.

the daughter said.

When she went home for the very last time, she was already in a state where she could no longer stand.

Everyone at the hospital tried to stop her, but she insisted that she had to go.

So I said,

"Alright, then lay out a futon at home, breathe the air of your house, and then come back."

I said, and sent her off.

However, that day, she stood in the kitchen at home.

Someone who shouldn't have been able to stand was summoning her final strength to make a bento.

The daughter told me about that moment like this.

The last lunch box my mother made for me was a rice ball.
I took that rice ball and went to school.
I was so happy, so incredibly happy, to have a lunch box after such a long time.
When lunchtime came and I opened my lunch box to eat, I felt so sad, so deeply sad, that I couldn't bring myself to pick it up.

My mother's life was just over 40 years; it was a very short life.

But life isn't about its length, is it?

My mother lived her life to the fullest, with all her might, and properly passed the baton of important things to her children.

I believe that when humans think 'for the sake of someone else,' hope is born, and by holding onto that hope, our immune system is boosted and the strength to live wells up within us.

※Source:
Chichi Publishing Website
Published May 8, 2022
[A moving true story for Mother's Day] The long-awaited, and final, rice ball from Mom (Minoru Kamata)

Videos

I would like to introduce some videos that were created based on this story.
※It seems there are other videos besides the ones I am introducing.

Nikorun (Channel)

Omoide no Yukkuri 2ch (Channel)

The video for this story is from 0:00 to 5:34.

Kando Otodokebin (Channel)

This is a reading video.

In closing

My note articles are not intended for profit.
I simply wrote this article because I wanted to share a story that brought me to tears with all of you.

However, if there are any issues such as 'copyright,' please let me know and I will delete it.

Also, the images posted are from Irasutoya and Minchirie. Thank you for taking your time to read this until the end.