About

I only just realized that my wife is wasting away. — I thought you would always be there. You, who lived all your life without a single family member to call your own. I believed that no matter what I did, no matter what happened, you would eventually stay by my side. On our wedding day, I made a promise. I vowed never to let you, who had lived such a lonely life, feel alone again. I promised to tell you I love you every day and to make you smile. But as we approached our third year of marriage, I changed all too easily. At first, I loved seeing you smile. Then it became familiar, and at some point, it became a nuisance. I spent more time outside than at home, and staying out all night became frequent. There were nights I spent hanging out with other women. I didn't even try to recall what kind of expression you were wearing or what you were thinking then. You just watched me, without saying a word. Even through all that, on cold days, you would give me a scarf telling me to be careful not to catch a cold, and you would send me money telling me not to skip meals. Back then, I took it for granted, and to be honest, I was even sick of it. The daily messages of concern, the heart that looked after me without change. And then one day, only after seeing the medicine bottles scattered on the floor, did I realize. Just how long, and just how much you had been enduring all by yourself.