主のいない、おばあちゃんの家に戻ってきた。
I have come back to my grandma’s house whose owner is not any more.
なんとなく、空っぽな感じのする家。
Feels that the house is empty.
テレビのボリュームも前より小さくなって、
（これが普通の大きさなんだけど、耳の遠いばあちゃんは爆音にしてたから）
Inside the house, the TV volume is lower then before (though it’s normal volume, grandma who had bad ears used to set the volume quite high)
おばあちゃんの席にはお父さんが座ってて、
sitting on grandma’s chair is my father,
おばあちゃんは、すっかり死んだ人の顔しちゃって、横たわってる。
while grandma has been laid down on the mat in dead face.
あぁ、またひとつ時代が終わったんだな。
Ah, another era has been over.
大正の最後の年に生まれて、昭和と一緒に年を重ねたおばあちゃん。
Born in the end of Japanese Taishou era, grandma had walked year by year with the Japanese Shouwa era.
愛媛の山奥の村で生まれて。
Born in the deserted village in Ehime, western Japan.
太平洋戦争の時、看護婦さんとして武漢まで行って。
At the time of WWII, she went to Wuhan as a nurse along with Japanese army.
戦後は一家で東京へ出て、子ども２人・おじいさんおばあさんの世話をしながら看護婦して。
After the war, she and her family shifted to Tokyo, and again worked as a nurse while taking care of her parents in law and 2 children.
英語もしばらくがんばって勉強してたね。
She even studied English hard for a while.
おばあちゃんの作ってくれた餃子と春雨サラダ、美味しかったな。
Dumplings and Chinese noodle salad cooked by her was one of my favourite dishes.
小学生の時、毎晩アトピーの薬を塗ってくれてありがとう。
Thanks grandma for applying skin ointment for my allergy every night after bathing when I was an elementary school student.
高３の時、学校の帰りに自転車で1回転して自転車壊れちゃったとき、車で迎えに来てくれてありがとう。
When I was in 15th standard, I fell along with the bike and broke it on my way home. Grandma came to pick me up by her car. Thanks grandma.
大学に入る時、学費を援助してくれてありがとう。
She even financially helped me when I entered the college. Thanks grandma.
心配しながらも、インドに送り出してくれてありがとう。
Thanks grandma for letting me go to India although she was quite worried about it.
そして・・先月、私の赤ちゃんをあやしてくれてありがとう。
And, thanks grandma for babysitting my baby last month.
いつも府中に帰ればおばあちゃんがいた。
Whenever I come back to my home town Fuchu, grandma was there along with grandpa.
人の面倒を見るのが好きで、心配性なおばあちゃん。
Grandma who liked to look after people, and was always worried about something, somebody.
認知症と生きるのは辛そうだったね。
It seemed hard for her to live along with dementia.
「もう死んだほうがましだ！」って叫んでた時もあったね。
Once she shouted “It’s better to die!”
この数年は、毎年夏は入院しながらも、よくがんばったね。
For last a few years, every summer grandma used to be admitted in the hospital due to dehydration. But she endured them.
ほんとうに、長い間、よく頑張ったね。
For a long long time, she had done a lot of work and overcome hardships.
お空の上で、おじいちゃんに会えましたか。
Grandma, have you seen grandpa in heaven?
ひいじいちゃん・ひいばあちゃんに会えましたか。
Have you seen grand-grandpa and grand-grandma there, too?
先に亡くなった姉弟にも会えましたか。
Have you even seen your sister and brothers who had gone earlier?
ひいじいちゃんが名付けた通り、幸せに恵まれた人生だったと思えているでしょうか。
Do you think that your life has been full of happiness as your father named for you?
答えはきっと、おばあちゃんの枕もとの笑顔にありますね。
I guess, the answer is in your smile on the bed.
お疲れさまでした、おばあちゃん。
I respect you, and appreciate you for everything, grandma.
何十年かしたら、私も行くから待っててね。
Wait for me above the sky, even I’ll come after some decades.
またね。
See you then. Lots of love.
*********************************
幸恵おばあちゃんは、大正14年愛媛県の上槙（かんまき）生まれ。令和2年4月26日に94歳の生涯を終えました。（ちなみに、コロナじゃないよ。）
My grandma Sachie was born in 1925, in the mountainous village of Kanmaki, Ehime. She passed away on 26th April, 2020 at the age of 94. (By the way, it’s not because of Corona virus.)
