My father's illness and the power of family When my father was in his early 30s and still in the prime of his working life, his chronic atopic dermatitis got worse and he had to take two years off work. My father was hardly able to go to work and spent the whole time bedridden. My sister and I were in the early grades of elementary school, and my youngest brother was a toddler who hadn't even started kindergarten yet. To support the family, my mother worked multiple part-time jobs and somehow managed to get by by sharing a small bag of natto between my three siblings and buying a whole dried sardine to eat as a family.

At that time, we couldn't buy many school supplies and I felt miserable a lot. But our family was close, and before my father returned to work, he said, "I caused everyone a lot of hardship, but no one blamed me. I'm proud of you all."

When that happens, there's only family left

After that, my father started working harder than ever. He seemed to be doing well at work, even while working away from home. A few years after returning to his long-desired home in Osaka, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. When the cancer was discovered, it was already in stage 4, making it inoperable. Wanting to live his limited life to the fullest with his family, he went to America with my mother to attend my sister's graduation ceremony. He went on trips with my father's brothers, tried farming, and never complained until the very end, enjoying time with his family to the fullest, and living a short but fulfilling life at 54 years old.

The time my father spent enjoying life to the fullest became an irreplaceable and rich time for our family. I was unemployed at the time, but I was able to talk to my father about work and life at length. My father never complained about my choices. Of course, he was financially rich, but I feel that the time I spent with him taught me the richness of life.

You can only be valued if you value what you value.

My parents' generation worked hard to fulfill their roles outside of work, wanting their families to be happy. While I respect their efforts, even at the expense of their own health and body, I have been searching for a slightly different way of working and living.

My father showed me at the end of his life how to make my family happy by having fun. I will continue to think about how I can continue to do my job in a way that makes my family happy by getting excited about it. Only those things that you truly value will be valued in return. My father taught me that when I can no longer work or when I become seriously ill, it is my family that will support me in the end, and the fun times we spent together will give me emotional support.

The experience of being poor is a treasure

In the future, there may come a time when it is difficult to earn money. I think the reason I think it will be okay even if my income decreases or life becomes difficult is because I experienced poverty when I was young. I think that the experience of going through a difficult time as a family has made the bonds between us even stronger.

I think the experiences I can buy without money have made me stronger. I want to cultivate my heart so that I can enjoy small joys and cherish the things around me.