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Mother's Sacrifice
My mom only had one eye. I hated her ....
She was such an embarrassment. She 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 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, I heard, "Your
mother only has one eye.", as they taunted
me. I wish my mother 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. I didn't think 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 for crying out of her one eye.
So, I told myself I would grow up and become
successful, because I hated my one eyed
mom and our desperate poverty. Then I
studied
real hard. I left my mother and came to
Seoul,
studied hard 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 am living happily
as
a successful man. I live here because it is
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 one eye. I 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 am 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 I wasn't going to care or
think
about it 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 I was going
on a
business trip. After the reunion, I went
down to
the old shack that I used to call home. 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 awhile"?
" I miss you so much. 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 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 of times 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!!! Then I cried for the
person who lived for me.... *My Mother*
Never take someone for granted.
Hold every person close to your heart
because
you might wake up one day and realize that
you
have lost a diamond, while you were too busy
collecting stones. Remember this always in
life!
Author Known To God
This page is dedicated to our friend
*Noah Bailey*
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