komachi

Last Tuesday, I was talking with my father on the phone when he excitedly told me that he had found an interesting post on Online Yomiuri.  It was about a sixteen year old female Shiba dog named Komachi.  She had died this year on New Year's Day, and the post was written by the adult son of the owner family, showing his thanks to Komachi (you can read the original post here).

Now we have a very close family friend (the H family) who has a female Shiba dog named Komachi who happens to be around fifteen.  Last time my mother met Mrs. H, she had told my mother that Komachi had become very old and weak.

"What do you think?"  My father asked from the other end.  I said it must be one of the sons in the family that had written the post.  "But it can't be M; H is too busy; it must be Y!"  We talked over how we should comfort them and discussed what would be the best way to inform the poster that we knew him.  "Maybe we could post a response by the name Y!"

In the end, my mother decided to call Mrs. H.  My father told my mother that she should be careful with her words since Mrs. H must be in deep grief.  They talked about how to start the conversation and how to bring the topic up.  "You shouldn't have to bring it up; she would be bursting into tears the moment she hears your voice."

When my mother finally called Mrs. H, she answered with her usual cheery voice.  My mother instantly knew it wasn't their Komachi that had died.  And this was the message we got:

Broccoli家の皆様
To the Broccoli Family

あけましておめでとうございます。
昨年は家族がお世話になりました。
私こまちはヨボヨボしながらもこのように元気にしています。
今年は百歳目指してがんばりますのでよろしくお願いします。
素敵な一年になりますように。

Happy New Year!

I always really appreciate your kindness for my family.

I've been doddering but am still doing well.

I'm looking forward to becoming 100 years old this year.

I wish you a wonderful New Year.

こまち
Komachi

So we wrote back:

こまち様
Dear Komachi

あけましておめでとうございます。
今朝はとんでもない犬違いをしてすみませんでした。
お元気そうで何よりです。あなたの穏やかな表情を見て安心しました。
ご家族にたくさんの愛情を注がれて素敵なおばあちゃんになられたのですね。
百歳までお元気で長生きしてください。
Happy New Year!
We're sorry to have awfully mistaken you for another dog.
We're glad you're doing well.  It's very nice to see the peaceful look on your face.
Your family must have loved you a lot; you seem to have grown to be a very charming grandma.
Please be well and live until 100 (and hopefully longer).

Broccoli家
The Broccoli Family