Ito Ogawa's Book
My mom had been in the hospital for about 10 months before she died. At that time, my mom was very weak and there were very limited things she could do. However, she said that she enjoyed reading Ito Ogawa's books. So my sister took lots of Ogawa Ito's books to the hospital for mom. As soon as she passed away, I asked my sister, "Who was the writer my mom liked recently?" I wanted to read them right away, but I couldn't get any books because of COVID.
I live in San Francisco, and Japanese books are very expensive to buy (about twice as expensive as in Japan), so when I want to read Japanese books, usually, I borrow them at a library near Japantown. There are many Japanese books there, so normally, there is no problem. However, due to COVID, libraries were closed and recently about 2-3 designated libraries have reopened in the city. But it is a system that receives books reserved online at the entrance called curbside pickup that cannot be brought into the library. After 3 plus months later, I was finally able to receive the first book "Shokudo Katatsumuri".
Immediately after I got the book, I was too sad to read...the book reminded me of my mom so much. I couldn't read it for a while, but I finally read it the day before last. When I started reading, I read it all at once. It was a very good book. I knew I would like this book because my mom liked them. We always had similar taste in books after all.
While reading the book, I thought about my mom a lot. Because my mom had tracheotomy which is a hole in her throat towards the end, she could not eat anything for the last three months or so. She said, "I want to rehabilitate quickly and eat something delicious", but since that thought has not come true and has passed away. Many delicious dishes in the book must have been like a dream for her. At the end of the book, the death of Rinko's (main character) 's mother (although her personality is completely different from my mom's) and my mom's death overlapped in my thoughts. Did my mom think she was going to die?
I was able to borrow some more books by Ito Ogawa, so I'm looking forward to reading them now. I hope I can read a little more calmly for the other books. When I read them, I am gonna brew delicious tea that my mom liked.
#book #ItoOgawa #library #sanfrancisco
