Today, my husband and I visited my parents and his mother in our hometown. I took my hand-knitted cap for my mom. Since it's getting colder, she loved it.

She wanted to go somewhere to wear her new cap, so my parents, my husband and I went out to eat soba at a soba restaurant.

In Japan, we have a long tradition of eating soba at the end of the year, which has been since the Edo period. This special soba is called toshikoshi soba (年越し蕎麦 としこしそば) in Japanese. We believe that we can live longer when we eat it at the end of the year, so many people still follow this custom. While eating the soba, I silently wished for my parents' long and healthy lives.

Later, we separated my parents and visited my husband's mom. Since she has been suffering from dementia, she didn't recognize me. Even so, I wanted to greet her and gratitude for the year. Even though she may not understand, this year was especially difficult for my husband’s family—she lost her husband, and my husband lost his father.

Finally, my husband and I visited his father's grave. We had wanted to come before the year ended, and we were glad we could made it.

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