My mom only had one eye. I hated her… she was
such an embarrassment. My mom ran a small shop at a flea market. She collected
little weeds and such to sell… anything for the money we needed she was such an
embarrassment. There was this one day during elementary school.
I remember that it was field day, and my mom came. I was
so embarrassed. How could she do this to me? I threw her a hateful look and ran
out. The next day at school… “Your mom only has one eye?!” and they taunted me.
I wished that my mom would just disappear from this world
so I said to my mom, “Mom, why don’t you have the other eye?! You’re only going
to make me a laughingstock. Why don’t you just die?” My mom did not respond. I
guess I felt a little bad, but at the same time, it felt good to think that I
had said what I’d wanted to say all this time. Maybe it was because my mom
hadn’t punished me, but I didn’t think that I had hurt her feelings very badly.
That night… I woke up, and went to the kitchen to get a
glass of water. My mom was crying there, so quietly, as if she was afraid that
she might wake me. I took a look at her, and then turned away. Because of the
thing I had said to her earlier, there was something pinching at me in the
corner of my heart. Even so, I hated my mother who was crying out of her one
eye. So I told myself that I would grow up and become successful, because I
hated my one-eyed mom and our desperate poverty.
Then I studied really hard. I left my mother and came to
Seoul and studied, and got accepted in the Seoul University with all the
confidence I had. Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. Then I had
kids, too. Now I’m living happily as a successful man. I like it here because
it’s a place that doesn’t remind me of my mom.
This happiness was getting bigger and bigger, when
someone unexpected came to see me “What?! Who’s this?!” It was my mother… Still
with her one eye. It felt as if the whole sky was falling apart on me. My
little girl ran away, scared of my mom’s eye.
And I asked her, “Who are you? I don’t know you!!” as if
I tried to make that real. I screamed at her “How dare you come to my house and
scare my daughter! Get out of here now!!” And to this, my mother quietly
answered, “oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address,” and she
disappeared. Thank goodness… she doesn’t recognize me. I was quite relieved. I
told myself that I wasn’t going to care, or think about this for the rest of my
life.
Then a wave of relief came upon me… one day, a letter
regarding a school reunion came to my house. I lied to my wife saying that I
was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went down to the old shack,
that I used to call a house…just out of curiosity there, I found my mother
fallen on the cold ground. But I did not shed a single tear. She had a piece of
paper in her hand…. it was a letter to me.
She wrote:
My son, I think my life has been long enough
now. And… I won’t visit Seoul anymore… but would it be too much to ask if I
wanted you to come visit me once in a while? I miss you so much. And I was so
glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I decided not to go to
the school…. For you… I’m sorry that I only have one eye, and I was an
embarrassment for you. You see, when you were very little, you got into an
accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having
to grow up with only one eye… so I gave you mine… I was so proud of my son that
was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. I was never
upset at you for anything you did. The couple times that you were angry with
me. I thought to myself, ‘it’s because he loves me.’ I miss the times when you
were still young around me. I miss you so much. I love you. You mean the world
to me.
My World Shattered. I hated the person who only
lived for me . I cried for My Mother, I didn’t know of any way that
will make up for my worst deeds…
Lesson:
Never Ever hate anyone for their disabilities. Never disrespect your parents, don’t ignore and under estimate their sacrifices. They give us life, they raise us better than they had been, they give and keep trying to give better than they ever had. They never wish unwell for their kids even in their wildest dreams. They always try showing right path and being motivator. Parents give up all for kids, forgive all mistakes made by kids. There is no way to repay what they done for kids, all we can do is try giving what they need and it is just time, love and respect.
Never Ever hate anyone for their disabilities. Never disrespect your parents, don’t ignore and under estimate their sacrifices. They give us life, they raise us better than they had been, they give and keep trying to give better than they ever had. They never wish unwell for their kids even in their wildest dreams. They always try showing right path and being motivator. Parents give up all for kids, forgive all mistakes made by kids. There is no way to repay what they done for kids, all we can do is try giving what they need and it is just time, love and respect.
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