Although her mother died when she was ten, Noriko still receives yearly birthday cards from her. Her life gets complicated as she grows older but she still finds comfort in her mother's messages.

Birthday Card

Akira is widowed and left with a pre-teen stepson. Travelling with him to her late husband's hometown, she meets her odd father-in-law and yet decides to make a go of living and working there. She attends training and joins the railway company where her father-in-law works and her late man dreamt of ending up as a child.