Planning an impatient father's longevity celebration / せっかちな父の喜寿祝いの計画

（日本語は後半にあります）

【English】

My father will turn 77 this year. In Japan, 77 years of age is often celebrated as "Kiju(喜寿)," and we are also planning a celebratory dinner at the end of March.

Around last autumn, my mother consulted me about it, and I took charge of planning with my two younger brothers. Organizing a family gathering for a dinner means coordinating everyone's schedules, and of course, it also involves expenses, so it requires a fair amount of effort. If it were just us siblings, it would be one thing, but since their wives are also attending, I tried to proceed carefully, ensuring that there wouldn't be any conflicts later on.

The planned venue was where my parents held their wedding ceremony. However, when I contacted them at the end of November to make a reservation, I was told that they only accept reservations for small gatherings starting six weeks in advance. Since there was no way around it, I asked everyone to keep the end of March open, and I planned to make the reservation as soon as possible on February 15, exactly six weeks prior.

Then, last Saturday, February 15, I immediately contacted the venue—only to find out that it was already fully booked! ...What??? I have no idea whether someone else had reserved it before me on the 15th or if a larger event, such as a wedding, had been booked, but in any case, we couldn’t secure the venue for our planned date. The venue offered a few alternative dates around that time, but now we had to decide whether to change the date or find a different venue instead.

When I reached out to my mother and siblings, they suggested that rather than adjusting the schedule, it would be easier to find another venue that could accommodate us on the originally planned date. Several alternative venues were brought up. But then... my father! He rejected every single one of them.

"Then, would the following week work?"

I messaged my mother, and she replied:

"He wants to keep the original date."

Whaaaaat?! Then what am I supposed to do...?😂 As I was sitting there, racking my brain, another message came from my mother:

"He's calling XX right now."

XX is a local sushi restaurant that my father likes, and they also offer private dining. Wait—he's already calling them?! Since there was no other choice, I just told her to go ahead and book their most expensive course meal.

Honestly, he is so stubborn and impatient, I don't even know what to do with him...

The photos are from autumn 2018, showing my father finishing up work in the rice fields.

---

【Japanese】

私の父は今年77歳になります。日本では77歳を「喜寿」としてお祝いすることが多く、私たちも3月末にお祝いの食事会を予定しています。

昨年秋ごろに母から相談があり、私が二人の弟と相談して計画を進めることになりました。親族で集まって食事会をするとなると、全員の予定の調整もあるし、お金もかかることなのでそれなりに気を遣います。兄弟だけならまだしも、彼等の奥様方も参加となるので、後々揉めたりしないよう慎重に確認をとりながら進めていたつもりでした。

会場は父と母が結婚式を挙げた場所を予定していましたが、11月の末に予約のため連絡を入れたところ、少人数での会食は6週間前からでないと受け付けられないとのこと。仕方がないので、みんなには3月末で予定しておいてもらい、6週間前の2月15日になったら私が速攻で予約を入れるから、ということで進めていました。

そして先週土曜の2月15日、速攻で会場に連絡を入れたところ、なんと予約が埋まっていたのです！・・・え？？？15日に私より前に予約した人がいたのか、もっと大人数の会食、例えば結婚式などの予約が入ってしまったのかはわかりませんが、とにかく予定していた日にその会場を押さえることはできませんでした。会場からは、その前後で３日程ほど代わりの日取りを案内されましたが、日を変えるべきなのか、会場を変えるべきなのか・・・。

母と弟たちに連絡したところ、日程を変えて再調整するよりは当初予定の日で予約できる会場を探した方が負担が少ないようで、いくつか代わりの案が出ました。しかし、肝心の父が！どの会場も嫌だと言うのです。

『じゃあ翌週でもいい？』

と母にLINEすると、

『日程はそのままがいいって』

との返答。えええええーーー？じゃあどうしろと・・・としばし頭を抱えていたところ、母から次のメッセージが。

『いま、自分で⚪︎⚪︎に電話してる』

⚪︎⚪︎というのは父が好きな地元の寿司屋で、会食も可能です。っていうか、もう電話してるのか！仕方がないので、奮発して一番高いコースにしてもらうようにだけ伝えました。ほんと、頑固かつせっかちでどうしようもないです・・・😂

写真は2018年の秋に田んぼ仕舞いをする父です。

---

For the best experience view this post on Liketu