Second son has no special memories on Mother’s Day. He spent decades without giving it much thought.
His shift towards actively doing something for ‘Mother’s Day’ only started after getting married.
It all began when Second son’s wife mentioned giving a gift on Mother’s Day, and he casually thought, ‘Why not? Not a bad idea,’ to be honest. He hasn’t actively taken any initiative on his own part (laughs).
Furthermore, even now, Second son often gets reminded by his wife to ‘improve’ his way of speaking and attitude towards Grandma.
Despite that, Second son does feel a certain warmth from Grandma’s affection towards 2-1, and with age, he has developed some sentiment for his biological parents. In that sense, he acknowledges being thankful to his wife.
This Mother’s Day, despite not being able to do anything grand, was a moment of reflection on the thought, ‘Even if it’s not much, there’s always something to do.'”
A phone call from Grandma
“It was Saturday afternoon.
As usual, during Second son’s break time at work, Grandma called at just the right moment, as if she had timed it when he was outside for a smoke.
Grandma: Is 2-1 home? This isn’t a big deal, but there’s an event at the park tomorrow with stalls and such, so I thought I’d let you know. Well then, see you.
Knowing that Second son typically doesn’t show interest in anything other than the main topic during phone calls, Grandma skillfully delivered her message and promptly hung up. The parent-child conversation lasted no more than 5 seconds, as usual (laughs).
As usual, Second son and 2-1 had plans to stay over for the weekend.
Despite the drizzly weather on the day, Grandma couldn’t contain her excitement for the event at the park and wandered around restlessly, eagerly awaiting the scheduled time.
When the long-awaited time arrived, she immediately approached 2-1, who was engrossed in a game in a separate room, and the three of them set off for the park, the venue for the event.
Upon reaching the venue, Grandma seemed eager to take a stroll around first.
Apparently, she had a specific stall in mind and, while grumbling about its absence this year, bombarded 2-1 with questions like, ‘Is there anything you want to eat?’ (laughs).
Without hesitation, she indulged in churros, grilled meat skewers, and more, and keenly spotted her recent favorite, ‘grilled manju,’ which she promptly purchased to take home.
Although their stay lasted less than an hour, with Second son mostly trailing behind the other two, Grandma seemed delighted, so all was well (laughs).”
2号と母の日
Preceding Mother’s Day, Second son’s wife had given some instructions, and as a gesture, a kitchen tool was sent to Grandma.
Additionally, with other thoughts in mind, the idea of making a cake using strawberries came up.
Every year, the strawberries harvested from Grandma’s field end up in surplus, uneaten and wasted.
So… as a side project for Mother’s Day, the plan was set in motion to make a cake that would also help consume the surplus strawberries.
On the day of the event, as the early morning drizzle subsided, Second son headed to the field with a bucket to harvest strawberries.
After a lunch break, he began the pre-processing of the strawberries.
Although it wasn’t intended to be a cake with a sponge, and rather a mousse using the harvested strawberries, the pre-processing proved to be a bit of a hassle.
Moreover, knowing that relatives were coming for strawberry picking, he had picked small ones from places that would be difficult for them to reach.
Carefully removing the stems, preparing them in a large pot, whipping cream… The strawberry mousse, crafted after a long time, amounted to three portions.
These were presented to Grandma, Second son’s wife, and conveniently timed visiting friends of Grandma.
As for the portion for Second son’s household, 80% of it was enjoyed by Second son and 2-1, as they humorously declare (laughs).
