"I suppose your family must respect you a lot, Mr. Ichikawa."
The car stopped at the traffic light, and Uncle Ichikawa smiled, "Actually, I'm single."
"You're not married?"
"I was, but now I'm divorced. It's been over a year..." Uncle Ichikawa continued driving and said, "I used to work in electrical sales, handling in-home promotions for the company's massage devices. I had a salary, and there was a commission for each device sold...
"Because of the nature of the work, I couldn't stay in one place for long when doing door-to-door sales. I needed to go to other cities to develop new clients. I was frequently traveling, out of town for more than ten to twenty days a month... I didn't even come home once when my child was born until two weeks after. Maybe that's why my wife chose to divorce me."
Uncle Ichikawa narrated these events casually, like he had come to terms with it.
"Didn't your son stay with you?"
