It's Okay, Family

Dedicated to Yomogi-san

No matter what happens, it's okay.

This was,

a story about a slightly older dad,

his energetic four-year-old son, Natsuki,

and his level-headed mom, Mai,

in the middle of a chaotic morning.

One morning, Dad looked into the bathroom mirror and sighed.

I used to be cute... now I'm a total old man.

He stretched out the end of his sentence playfully to hide his embarrassment.

Natsuki didn't care about that at all and sprinted toward the bathroom.

Dad, you're too slow! I'm gonna have an accident!

He even started mimicking that strange way of speaking, though I don't know where he picked it up.

The two of them ran down the hallway, bumped into each other, laughed, and got scolded by Mom.

All right, all right, both of you, be quiet. Don't start a track meet first thing in the morning.

They would compete while watching TV heroes, spray toothpaste foam everywhere, and one sock was always missing.

The house was noisy, but for some reason, it felt warm.

Dad often said it.

It's going to be okay. Life, for the most part, works out.

The words sounded like a joke, but they were sincere.

—And then, fifty years passed.

Dad turned eighty-nine.

His forgetfulness progressed, and he would ask the same things over and over.

He remembers the past vividly, but today's events slip away.

Did you make it to the bathroom in time, Natsuki?

Even though I'm no longer four, sometimes he returns to that morning.

As for Natsuki, he collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage and is lying quietly in a hospital bed.

It was a life of working hard, laughing, falling, and getting back up, but now his body moves only slowly.

Mai, too, injured her legs in a traffic accident and now lives in a wheelchair.

It's hard to believe she's the same person who used to run all over the house back then.

However, the strength in her eyes hasn't changed one bit.

When she was young, Mai dreamed.

She dreamed of a future where Natsuki married, had grandchildren, and they gathered around a lively dinner table.

That didn't come to pass.

But Mai says,

Well, just being able to live was enough.

She smiles a little and shrugs her shoulders.

It's going to be okay, right?

That tone of voice is just like his.

Mai is working in nursing care now.

Even though she is in a wheelchair herself, she is busy every day.

Paperwork, calls, visits, checking in on people.

It is a constant series of things not going as planned.

Even so, she never misses visiting her husband and son.

In the morning, she goes to her husband's facility.

Hello, Papa. Do you know what day of the week it is today?

Hmm... it is Natsuki's sports day.

Mai laughs at the answer full of mistakes.

Then did you win?

Of course I did!

The way he puffs out his chest is just a little bit like it used to be.

In the afternoon, she goes to Natsuki's hospital room.

Mom is here.

She holds the hand of her son, who blinks slowly.

The hand that was once so small is now bigger than her own.

Papa was doing well today too. He said he made it to the bathroom in time.

The corners of Natsuki's mouth relax slightly.

Light streams in from the hospital room window.

It is a soft afternoon in a life that is not perfect.

Mai thinks.

There are many things that did not go well.

It is quite different from the future I had envisioned.

But—

I wake up in the morning.

Steam rises from the coffee.

I hold someone's hand.

I laugh.

Isn't that enough?

On the way home, I look up at the sky while pushing the wheelchair.

The sunset blurs.

"It's going to be okay."

I whisper softly.

That hectic morning,

and this quiet evening now,

all of it together is the time of this family.

It is not flashy.

It is not as I imagined it would be either.

Even so, we have certainly lived this far.

Dad sometimes talks about old superhero shows.

Even if the bad guys show up, they usually win in the end, he says.

Mai laughs.

There are days when they lose, though.

But it will be alright, he says.

Those words are like a spell now.

By Natsuki's bedside,

In the hallway of Dad's facility,

Inside Mai's heart,

Those words live on quietly.

Even after fifty years,

The laughter from the morning we ran to the bathroom never fades.

Families change their shape.

Our bodies change too.

The things we can't do increase.

Even so.

I'm going to see him again today.

I'm going to call out to him again today.

I'm going to laugh again today.

It will be alright.

Happiness is not about nothing ever going wrong.

It is about not stopping your laughter, even when things happen.

This family,

takes on a life that doesn't go as planned,

with a lively spirit,

and is living well again today.