A 74-year-old Japanese man with a gentle smile from the day he wakes up early makes beautiful meals to coax his wife with Alzheimer’s disease to eat with the hope that she will have more health and retain a bit of fading memories.
Kenichi Torikai’s day usually begins at 5:15 am at his small house in Obu, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. After personal hygiene, he began to prepare breakfast for his wife – Mitsuyo, 73 years old, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease leading to memory loss and gradual loss of mobility, according to The Asahi Shimbun.
The name is breakfast, but Mr. Kenichi always carefully prepares the meal the night before by mixing liquid nutritional supplements with gelatin and turning it into a jelly-like mixture. Then he could paint everything, decorate it with jams, fruits, vegetables, beans…
Mr. Kenichi Torikai started preparing food for his wife at 5:30 am. (Photo taken from Youtube video)
It takes about 1 hour for Mr. Kenichi to finish his breakfast each morning. The food bowl is elaborately presented, uniquely shaped, sometimes it is a lively little girl, sometimes it is a cute animal… extremely dedicated, looks like a bento box of Japanese mothers. often done to encourage children to eat well.
“I love this moment. This is what I find passionate about. I hope they will stimulate her appetite,” Kenichi said.
Because she lost her mobility, Mr. Kenichi also directly fed his wife. He helped his wife from the bed to the table, scooped up the food, looked her in the eye and waited patiently for her to open her mouth. While eating, he talked to her about food, weather, singing a song or happy stories.
Mr. Kenichi Torikai feeds his wife every morning. (Photo taken from Youtube video)
Of course, Mr. Kenichi was not immediately able to make such beautiful meals. Cooking in the house was usually done by Mrs. Mitsuyo until nine years ago when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 64. The initial pathological manifestation is poor memory, it takes a long time to complete the shopping, sometimes fainting …. One day, the wife went out but never returned. The husband hurried to find her, when he found her, he said, “I don’t remember the way home”.
Since then, Mr. Kenichi decided to quit his job ahead of schedule to take care of his wife full-time. He took her to see experts, attend lectures and work in a group to understand the disease. They tried everything to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, even just a little. He took his wife to drawing lessons, piano lessons, knitting and hiking in the mountains… But the progress was not remarkable. Until 2017, Mrs. Mitsuyo was confined to bed and could no longer walk on her own.
“Sometimes I feel lonely. But for the most part, I enjoy the quiet time with Mitsuyo. I just want to spend as much time as this with her for as long as possible,” said the loving husband.
Early last year, Mitsuyo began having trouble eating, a sign that her dementia was progressing. She could not eat or drink for several days and lost 20 kg. A doctor suggested that Mr. Kenichi feed his wife nutritional supplements in liquid form. But Mrs. Mitsuyo was very difficult to swallow, only when he turned them into jelly, she was able to eat them.
But the jelly looks very bland. Mr. Kenichi started to cover with jam and honey and came up with an idea to paint it. His wife ate it all, gained weight, and improved in health. Even though his wife rarely smiles at him due to his illness, Mr. Kenichi still regularly cooks meals every day so that he is full of love and meaning.
