Special Selection "Baa"

The only "gaze" I could find was that of my grandmother. If you'd like, please read on to find out why and how.
(supplement)
My family consists of six people: me, my husband, my two daughters, my father-in-law, and my grandmother-in-law. My grandmother-in-law, who is my daughters' great-grandmother, has always been called "Baa." From here on, I will refer to her as Baa.

According to an arrangement made by her family, my grandmother married into the Ogoe family as soon as she graduated from junior high school. Apparently, this was quite common around here at the time.

In this day and age, it's unthinkable that your parents would choose your marriage partner for you without you even going to high school, but my grandmother said, "I'm happy to be born here and marry into a farming family," and after taking care of her and her father-in-law's child (her husband), she is now once again at the mercy of his children (her daughters).

Apparently, even in my husband's time, he was lenient with anything related to grandchildren, and when my daughters said they liked or disliked something, he would interrupt and say, "You don't have to eat that!", so I retorted, "You don't have to say unnecessary things!" (He was merciless towards my grandmother too.)
Thanks to that, people call me Muzan (Kibutsuji). Lol

Today, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is completely different from the environment I grew up in. Naturally, our values ​​differ greatly from those of people from a generation that never had the opportunity to hear the word "virus," and we often clash.

Still, we had a great time sharing stories of the Ogoe family's experiences here, such as how they've been helping out at a nearby nursery school since Grandma's time, how there's a specific day to eat rice cakes during New Year's, and how Dad was a naughty boy and there weren't any shoji screens without holes in them...and I gradually began to feel at home with the Ogoe family and this place.

My second daughter will start elementary school this April.

Just like with my eldest daughter, I was able to send my child to school with peace of mind knowing that she would be watched over by familiar faces in the community. I realized that the people who created this environment were undoubtedly my grandmother and my grandfather in heaven, who have always protected this place and this house.

Baa's gaze has reflected the changes of the times and the environment. (That's why I deliberately erased the colors and made it black and white.)

My daughters love Baa.

I believe it is because of this unchanging gaze of love that I find children's gazes so beautiful.

I thought that if I took the photo in a formal manner, it would not look natural, so I held the camera together with my daughter and asked her to take the photo.

Thank you for reading this far.