Falling Leaves

May 11, 2017 10:28 AM

Back in 2011 when photographer Akihito Yoshida visited his cousin living in a small rural town in Miyazaki prefecture, he discovered a very special relationship. The younger cousin, born in 1990, was living with and caring for his Grandmother, born in 1928. With over 60 years between them, they had done everything together. The grandmother had been there for every important day. “I grew up basking in the love of my grandmother, so it’s only normal that I care for her until her death,” the cousin told Yoshida.

posted by infini (5 comments total)

The Buzzfeed article has a bit more background, but the young man apparently lived with his parents and his grandmother (so he wasn't caring for her alone).

A few months before he disappeared (and presumably killed himself) he expressed a desire to qualify to become a care aide.

In rural Japan (where I live part of the year; my mother-in-law lives in a care home), care aide jobs are some of the only jobs low-skilled people who remain in the communities can get.
posted by My Dad at 10:45 AM on May 11, 2017

Aw man, that story made me ache.

I'm not too far off in age from the grandson in the article, and while I can't physically take care of my grandmother every day, I do call her every week to chat and see how she's doing. The photos are beautiful, but the ends met by these people...
posted by The Power Nap at 11:01 AM on May 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

Thanks for post. I'm not sure how I feel about this story but I'm glad I learned about it.

My Dad, I looked at the Buzzfeed article you linked and I don't see where it mentions Daiki lived with his parents. I think the "Mother" in that article means the photographer's mother, though I guess it is kind of unclear.
posted by misozaki at 3:03 PM on May 11, 2017

The younger cousin, born in 1990, was living with and caring for his Grandmother, born in 1928.

Is this is a particularly remarkable gap between grandparent and grandchild? Or is the notable thing that they got on so well together? My youngest cousin was born in 1997 or so and my grandad in 1930. She's several years younger than her siblings, but I also don't think of my grandad as particularly old relative to my generation (and think of my grandma, who was born in, I think, 1932, as having died young), though it's not like I have other families.
posted by hoyland at 6:36 PM on May 11, 2017

My grandmother was born in 1923 and my youngest cousin was born in 1982.

I go to visit my grandma every Sunday morning and bring her breakfast and iced coffee from McDonalds and we gossip about family. Sometimes she gives me little things that I treasure as heirlooms but nobody else in the family would probably want, except maybe my mom, like the fork bracelet, or the anodized aluminum handbag that looks like a giant PEZ. Sometimes she tells me about the skeletons in our family closet, like how her maternal grandfather went to the outhouse one day and slit his throat with a razor blade, or how my grandfather's brother was also his nephew.

I've always been my grandma's favorite out of my six other cousins, but as she gets older, I feel that relationship really solidifying. We've never been an affectionate family, but she hugs me for ages when I leave her on Sundays. She tells me she loves me every time she talks to me (or texts me on her iPhone!). And while I do find her frustrating as hell sometimes, I'm so glad that she's still around and still has the mental capacity to tell me jokes and stories and gossip.

I'm very lucky to be 40 years old and still have a grandma.
posted by elsietheeel at 4:21 PM on May 12, 2017 [1 favorite]