Greta

Greta, Adele’s sister and Miraijin’s aunt, becomes one of the people who will remain alongside Miraijin after Marco’s death. Her relationship with her niece is sustained by years of family visits to Germany, and at the final gathering she chooses to stay with Marco rather than depart with the other guests.## Identity and Family Background Greta is a German woman in her thirties, Adele’s sister and therefore Miraijin’s maternal aunt. She had only a short time to become close to Adele before Adele died, but her connection with Miraijin develops into a deep, enduring bond. The narrative describes the two as being like sisters, a closeness formed not from shared childhood but from the effort made to bring them together across family separation.## Building a Bond with Miraijin For years, Marco took Miraijin to Germany to visit her grandmother Marina and Greta. Those trips gave the girl time with her mother’s sister and helped establish an intimacy that would matter well beyond the visits themselves. Since Marina is not in a position to provide Miraijin with dependable support, Greta’s place in her life becomes a concrete answer to the prospect that the girl might otherwise be alone. The bond is thus both personal and carefully fostered: Marco makes the journeys possible, and Greta and Miraijin make a lasting relationship from them.## At Marco’s Final Gathering Twelve days before the gathering at the house in Bolgheri, Miraijin proposes inviting people important to Marco, including Greta. Marco has been estranged from many of them, and he initially doubts that they could come. Miraijin reframes the invitation as something not only for him but for those who will remain after him; once he accepts that purpose, she takes responsibility for arranging it. Greta arrives from Germany along with Marina, while other guests come from their own distant homes.## Choosing to Stay When Marco asks Greta whether she will leave, she answers that she is staying. Her brief reply distinguishes her from a visitor who has come only to attend the gathering: she will remain with the family through what comes next. Marco takes a deep breath and turns his attention back to the people around him, though the thought of Marina crying alone in the house remains difficult for him. Greta’s decision therefore offers practical and emotional continuity at once, reinforcing the support network that her years with Miraijin have helped create.## Farewell and Narrative Significance As Marco’s death approaches, Greta comes forward and embraces him. They exchange a simple goodbye. The farewell is restrained, but its place in the scene gives it force: Greta is not merely present as Adele’s surviving sister, but as someone bound to Miraijin and willing to stay beside Marco at the threshold of his death. Her presence completes the arc of the journeys to Germany. What began as Marco’s effort to connect a young girl with her mother’s family has become a lasting relationship capable of carrying care forward after he is gone.