My mom only had one eye. I hated her... she was
such an embarressment.. 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 embarressment. There
was this one day during elementary school.. It was
field day, and my mom came. I was so
embarressed. 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 dissappear from
this world so i said to my mom, "mom.. why dont
you have the other eye?! if you're only gonna make
me a laughingstock, why dont 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 hadnt punished me, but I
didnt 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, 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. Cause i
hated my one-eyed mom and our desperate
poverty..
Then i studied real 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 doesnt remind me of my mom.
This happiness was getting bigger and bigger,
when..
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 dont know you!!!" as if trying 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 dissappeared out of sight.
Thank goodness... she doesnt recognize me.. was
quite relieved.
I told myself that i wasnt 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. so, lying to my wife that i was going
on a business trip, i went. 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.
my son... i think my life has been long enough
now.. and... i wont 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... and i'm sorry that i only
have one eye, and i was an embarressment for
you.
you see, when you were very little, you got into an
accident, and lost your eye. as a mom, i couldnt
stand watching you having to grow up with only
one eye... soi 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..'
my son... oh, my son...