A Cat's Back

This is a story about the rather laid-back time I spend with our 77-year-old facility director.

It is in the office after the morning assembly has finished.

I sit down neatly next to the facility director's desk.

"Director, here is the report on the wheelchair repair completion. Could I have your approval stamp, please?"

"Kudo, I wonder why those reclining head supports always end up with holes in them."

"I think it's probably wear and tear from people sticking their hands behind the head too much during assistance."

"Wear and tear, huh..."
"It reminds me of a story from when I went to the university hospital with my wife to visit my mother."

I believe the rumor that households where the husband calls his spouse "my wife" are happy ones is true.

From what I hear, my facility director and his wife get along remarkably well.

"After we finished visiting my mother and were paying the hospital bill, I overheard a conversation between the nurses."

"Mr. Isomura, you brought your daughter with you, didn't you? Your mother, Mayumi, was so happy, it made me feel happy just watching."

……Daughter……?

"My wife was overjoyed. I mean, she had become a child again. The problem was the way home. In the middle of the rain, she started saying she wanted to walk home instead of taking a taxi."

"Wow, how far did you walk home?"

"Roughly 3 kilometers, I'd say?"

I wondered if it was pouring rain, but I started with some sympathy...

"3 kilometers in the rain!?"

The conversation branches out from here.

"That's right. And as soon as we got home, she started saying she wanted to throw away our good chairs."

"Your wife is certainly decisive, isn't she?"

From the next day on, I ended up eating my meals on a bench.

My cigarettes were thrown away, my alcohol was disposed of. On top of that, even my comfortable chair with a backrest... everything was gone.

And what happened then?

From the next day, we started taking walks together to the nearby riverbed. Rain or shine, even on snowy days...

That sounds like a date! By the way, what kind of things do you talk about at times like that?

Just ordinary things. Like what to have for dinner, or what to do on our days off.

But those are the best kinds of conversations, aren't they? It really feels like a married couple.

She says my back is hunched. So, she makes me sit up straight on the bench, and even when we're walking, she tells me, 'Hey, you're slouching.' If I ran into a staff member while she was talking to me like that, I'd lose all my dignity.

The facility director couldn't stop grinning (laughs).

By the way, if you ran into me, I'd 100% tease you about it.

That's true. I definitely couldn't let you meet Kudo-kun.

If I ran into a staff member, it would be a disaster, so I walk a little bit behind my wife.

When I do that, she scolds me, saying, 'Don't fall behind!' Honestly, it's just like being a dog.

I could almost see a collar around the facility director's neck (laughs).

...I held back the urge to ask what breed of dog he was walking like... and asked, 'Didn't she also tell you to keep your body straight?'

That's right, she also bought me a ton of health gadgets to prevent slouching.

So that means your back was really hunched when you visited her at the hospital, too.

...I guess I really need to puff out my chest.

The facility director lost his wife two years ago. That was one year before I started working at the facility. Since I joined, I've been encouraging him to do back exercises here and there to fix his slouch.

...But something is still missing.

The facility director's body is also worn out.
And their back was succumbing to the gravity of sorrow.

The office ladies all say the same thing about the chats I have with the facility director under the eaves.

The walk home that day was a downpour due to the influence of Typhoon No. 10.

I headed toward the station while being beaten by the rain.

The sound of the rain hitting my umbrella sounded like the popping of bubbles in a glass of cider after pulling the tab on the can.

“Oh! Does the facility director like cider?”

Next time, I'll offer them some delicious dorayaki and cider.

As if to watch my step, I also hunch my back.

*All names appearing here are pseudonyms.