Even after turning the calendar, the blank space is still there.
The new month’s caregiving dates filled the calendar first. That night, just as she was about to ask, Seoyeon couldn’t bring herself to speak at the table.
As Seoyeon moved the new month’s caregiving dates onto the calendar, she tried to ask her Husband to share the responsibility. But even in the counseling room, she couldn’t get the words out.
At nine that night, Seoyeon added the dates she’d take her mother to the hospital to the new month’s calendar. Husband wrote his own plans on it first, and Seoyeon looked at the dates clustered in one week. In the counseling room, Onyu looked with her at the week’s blank space and asked how she’d planned to begin asking Husband. Seoyeon opened her mouth but couldn’t finish the sentence.
When it’s hard to ask someone to share the caregiving
When it’s hard to ask, start by looking at whose calendar the caregiving is actually written on.
When did you want to ask someone to share the caregiving?
The moment she moved the dates onto the new month’s calendar and saw almost no blank space left stayed with her. The calendar already showed whose schedule the caregiving belonged to. If you’ve ever held back words over a similar calendar, tell us about that moment, too.
Scenes
- 01 · The new month’s dates — Seoyeon copies the dates she’ll take her mother to the hospital onto next month’s calendar. Beside them, Husband writes in his late-work dates first. Seoyeon: The hospital days come first again this month. Husband: I’ll just mark my late-work days.
- 02 · Overlapping schedules — Husband points to the week when his late-work days overlap with the hospital visits. Seoyeon looks at the two hospital dates written that week. Husband: Looks like I’ll keep getting home late this week. Seoyeon: Yeah. A lot’s packed into this week.
- 03 · One blank space — The next day in the counseling room, Seoyeon spreads out the calendar. Onyu points to the small blank space between the hospital visits. Onyu: Seoyeon, looking at this blank space, what’s the first thing you’d like to ask for? Seoyeon: I was going to ask Husband to take one of the hospital days with me…
- 04 · Hesitation at the end of her words — Seoyeon looks up from the calendar and starts to speak, then stops. Onyu waits. Onyu: What were you going to add after that request? Seoyeon: I can’t keep…
Stories by Onyu
- Onyu
- The path where she stopped to retie her shoe
- When I get home from work, my family is already doing okay.
- When we come home from work and stand in the entryway, our future feels uncertain.
- After work, I stand in the entryway, unsure where I’ll live in the future.
- A Month Before the Presentation, They Take the Long Way Home
- When I get home and open the door, I look for that person again.
- You read over your reply to a friend on the way home from work.
- On the way home, I go to make plans with someone new, then think of them.