Make ur mother’s smile

My mom only had one eye. I hated her… she wa
such an embarrassment. My mom ran a small shop a
a flea market. She collected little weeds and such t
sell… anything for the money we needed she wa
such an embarrassment. There was this one da
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 nex
day at school… “Your mom only has one eye?!” an
they taunted me.
I wished that my mom would just disappear fro
this world so I said to my mom, “Mom, why don’
you have the other eye?! You’re only going to mak
me a laughingstock. Why don’t you just die?” M
mom did not respond. I guess I felt a little bad, bu
at the same time, it felt good to think that I ha
said what I’d wanted to say all this time. Maybe i
was because my mom hadn’t punished me, but
didn’t think that I had hurt her feelings very badly
That night… I woke up, and went to the kitchen t
get a glass of water. My mom was crying there, s
quietly, as if she was afraid that she might wak
me. I took a look at her, and then turned away
Because of the thing I had said to her earlier, ther
was something pinching at me in the corner of m
heart. Even so, I hated my mother who was cryin
out of her one eye. So I told myself that I woul
grow up and become successful, because I hated m
one-eyed mom and our desperate poverty.
Then I studied really hard. I left my mother an
came to Seoul and studied, and got accepted in th
Seoul University with all the confidence I had. Then
I got married. I bought a house of my own. Then
had kids, too. Now I’m living happily as a successfu
man. I like it here because it’s a place that doesn’
remind me of my mom.
This happiness was getting bigger and bigger, whe
someone unexpected came to see me “What?! Who’
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 he
“How dare you come to my house and scare m
daughter! Get out of here now!!” And to this, m
mother quietly answered, “oh, I’m so sorry. I ma
have gotten the wrong address,” and sh
disappeared. Thank goodness… she doesn’
recognize me. I was quite relieved. I told mysel
that I wasn’t going to care, or think about this fo
the rest of my life.
Then a wave of relief came upon me… one day,
letter regarding a school reunion came to my house
I lied to my wife saying that I was going on
business trip. After the reunion, I went down t
the old shack, that I used to call a house…just ou
of curiosity there, I found my mother fallen on th
cold ground. But I did not shed a single tear. Sh
had a piece of paper in her hand…. it was a lette
to me.