I had lost both my grandmothers well before the most turbulent years of my life. My mother is not able to provide what J seeks in a grandmother - this is has been true from the time she stopped being a toddler. Time stayed still for my parents but moved on for both of us. I am not able to bridge the gap that can resulted in the process.
Reading about grandmas for rent in Japan made me think this would great to have around the world. The elderly could feel useful in the world, see that they were making a valuable contribution and all of us who ever needed a grandma and did not have access to one could benefit. I am sure my mother makes a fine grandma for the kids in her immediate surroundings who are now J's age. There has been no loss of context or cultural disconnect that grow between her and J as she visits to her home in America declined over the years, J got busier. The person she knew best was a toddler and that is what she anchors to hopelessly.
According to the OK Obaachan website, they have been getting a lot of requests for an incredibly wide range of uses, such as teaching how to cook, mediating family disputes, writing things with nice penmanship, and babysitting. They are often also called upon to act as pillars of emotional support and have been requested by men planning to come out as gay to their parents to be present when it happens.
From what I have observed, the hardest part of aging is the feeling of irrelevance. That can take a person who is in good physical and mental health, into someone who is experiencing all around struggles with aging. Maybe a service like this can help reverse some of that.
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