Father in law has passed away

Father in law has died at age 97 years this morning. Sister in law has given a phone call to my wife. My wife and daughter have just visited parents in law last week end. He could hardly converse with them due to disability in speech. It seemed he could recognize them. It was as if he had waited for my wife and his granddaughter before leaving for heaven. 

It was when I met him first that I visited them in Shikoku at our graduation from the med school to ask for permission of our marriage. He has put in airs saying he would consider of that for a while. He wanted to take me into his family since they did not have anyone to take it over. He has emphasized that there were a med school hospital near to their home without telling me to serve residency there. Later, we have known of his plot. He must have been half serious to have me there. At that time, I have already planed to work at a med school hospital here. Considering what he has thought of me then, I am still sorry for that.

So far as I heard of him in his young days from my wife and directly from him in a few occasions, he served army during WWII and became a prisoner of war in the SE Asia. It seemed he had spent hard time at a POW camp for a year or two, even though he scarcely told about it to my wife or the other family members. Returning to homeland, he has married to the lady, that is, mother in law. He has worked hard at the prefectural office as a public servant until his retirement at age 60 years.

Regretfully, I have not met him in person so many times especially while I was working. I still owe him a lot and have, in various occasions, known of his tender and affectionate personality toward family members. He has done well for our children when they visited him and grandmother in summer vacation. I still remember he has sent us a boxful sweet potatoes to the dormitory while we were serving residency. We have not cooked so often then and were a bit puzzled at how to consume them, honestly speaking. But, now growing such vegetables by myself, I could figure out what he had thought for us. 

For the past several years, he and mother in law have lived in a nursing facility. We have visited them there a couple of times. It was not a large spaced but neat and cozy place. My wife used to give him a phone call every evening. For the past year or two, it has been difficult for her to talk to him due to his hearing and speech difficulty. It might be tough for him to have gradually lost own capabilities. It was the time for us to get ready to say farewell to him.

I would say to him many thanks for his support to us and rest in real peace in the heaven.

This is a photo taken 6 years ago when we visited them at the nursing facility.