My Family Story

Yielding Is Easy If You Love

“How many times have I told you what I want from you is not a good grade but your getting along with each other?” This is what I say every time my children quarrel. My son and daughter who are both in elementary school seem to regret what they did the moment I scold them, but soon after, they easily squabble again. Wondering how I could help them get along, I came up with an idea: I decided to give a star sticker to the one who yielded to the other, and to award them with some pocket money when they gathered ten stickers. They prepared some paper where they were going to put the stickers, and discussed how they…

Gwon Sun-hye from Daegu, Korea

Breakfast for My Husband

I am not a morning person, so I couldn’t prepare breakfast for my husband to eat before he left for work. Even on the day I woke up early because I couldn’t sleep well, my husband was more concerned about my physical condition than his meal, saying that he could eat a sandwich provided by his company. One day, I put myself in my husband’s shoes; ‘How hungry would I be if I went to work in the morning without having breakfast?’ That evening, I went grocery shopping with a firm determination to make breakfast for my husband. Thinking that my husband would probably stop me, I said to him: “As I wake up late in the morning, I can’t…

Kim Yun-ok from Hwaseong, Korea

Family Changes by Efforts

Whenever I came back home, being exhausted, my wife must have felt sorry for me because she said, “Welcome home! Tired, right?” or “Oh, you’re home. I missed you.” She always welcomed me with a bright look. But I used to say bluntly, “Yes.” That was all. Despite that, she always smiled at me undauntedly, trying to plant a positive mind in me. One evening after two months, when I came in through the front door with a smile, saying, “I’m home.” At this, my wife said that she was very happy and felt rewarded for not giving up on making a happy home. At first, my wife and I had hard times because of different ways of thinking and…

Baek Gwang-wun from Gimpo, Korea

What Can I Give You?

I was getting ready for work when my five-year-old daughter woke up earlier than usual and came to me, rubbing her eyes. “Dad! Are you going to work?” “Yes, I am.” Then she kept looking at me until I took out a small bag of biscuits from a drawer and gave it to her. “Yunji! You can have this after breakfast.” “Is it for me?” “Uh huh. I want you to have breakfast first, and then you can have this, too.” Then she seemed to think hard and said, “What can I give you? Do you want me to leave a biscuit for you?” I said to her with a smile, “No, you can have it all. I’m okay. See…

Yeo In-won from Daejeon, Korea

Parents’ Joy and Happiness

This happened when we were driving to Wisconsin to see my husband’s mother who had hidden her sickness from us and only had a short time to live. It was not a planned trip but rather an emergency to be with her. Not to speak of worries about her health, it was not an easy trip with three active young girls in their car seats for hours. It was when we were driving through Montana. There was nothing but the sun and an ever stretching road before us. Talking to my husband about his mother, we were tired with mixed emotions. But all of a sudden, all three girls began to laugh aloud! We didn’t even know why they were…

Kristy Burkholder from Seattle, WA, U.S.

When One of Two Is in Pain

Recently, I had gone through a hard time; I had a pain in my stomach and had a high fever and even vomited up. Sure enough, I was rushed to the emergency room and took various medical checkups in the hospital. It took a long time to take even one checkup. As my disease was not identified, I couldn’t get into a ward. What was worse, I had to wait for a couple of hours to see a doctor. Meanwhile, I was exhausted both physically and mentally. While I was having such a hard time, one person was always with me. It was my husband. Staying beside me for four days in the emergency room, he became my hands and…

Kim Sahng-seon from Gimje, Korea

Every Day Is a Special Day

It was a Tuesday. After helping my husband prepare for his going to work as usual, I was resting for a moment in my room while my children were preparing for going to school. Then, my two children came to me together hand in hand and spoke out loud at the same time. “Mom! Thank you for raising us!” It was very unusual for them to say so. I was curious about what had happened to them. “Huh? Why?” “Nothing special. We wanted to buy you something, but why don’t you take this and buy something you want?” Then, they handed me a creased bill. Receiving an allowance from them, I felt like their sincerity touched my hand. It was…

Cho Yun-ju from Uijeongbu, Korea

A Daughter Who Took After Her Dad

“Mom! Why don’t I look like you?” “What do you mean? You’re my daughter. We look alike.” “You’re lying! Today I heard some people say to you about my older sisters, ‘Your daughters are pretty as they resemble you.’ But they said about me, ‘Oh, your youngest daughter probably look more like her dad.’ So, you all laughed a lot, didn’t you?” When I was a child, I always heard people say that whenever I went out with my older sisters while holding my mom’s hands. As I got grumpy and pouted my lips, my mom and sisters giggled and consoled me in their own ways. “In my eyes, you resemble me the most. They don’t have eyes to see…

Goh Su-jeong from Jeonju, South Korea

Two Sweet Rice Doughnuts

On the way home after a student gathering at the church, suddenly I was reminded of Mom and phoned her. “Mom, I’m on the way home after the gathering.” “I see! Seohyeon, you know . . .” “Yes?” “I really want to eat sweet rice doughnuts.” I told her I would get it for her and hung up. Then I looked through my bag. I found a creased thousand-won bill and a few coins. I thought I could buy at least one doughnut, and went inside a bakery. Thankfully, I could barely buy two doughnuts. At the mere thought about how much Mom would enjoy it, my footsteps were light. Finally, I handed the doughnuts to Mom. “Mom, here it…

Kim Seo-hyeon from Seoul, Korea

A Tower of Strength to Me

Recently, I had to prepare something personally, so I worked till late at night for several days. I could neither sleep nor do housework properly. One day, I came home around eight in the evening, utterly worn-out after work. When I entered home, the light was on and the grocery store leaflet was opened wide on the table. I laughed in spite of myself. My husband, who came back from work, must have gone grocery shopping after seeing the leaflet put on the front door. When I looked at my cell phone to call him, I already had a few missed calls from him. I called him. “Did you go grocery shopping?” “Oh, you’re home early! I wanted to cook…

Ahn Ha-jeong from Hwaseong, South Korea

On a Rainy Day

I don’t like rainy days. The gloomy weather makes me feel down, and also makes my clothes and shoes wet. Another reason I don’t like rainy days is that my joint predicts the rain more accurately than the weather center, as I’m suffering from neuralgia. But sometimes I smirk while walking in the rain. I went to school in a small town for the first couple of years of elementary school. My house was located in the center of the town, and the school was so close to my house that sometimes from the school playing field I could see my mom hanging laundry on the rooftop. Back then, quite many students had to walk for thirty minutes or even…

Choi Jae-jeong from Gunpo, South Korea

Giving Love on Behalf of Mother

“Mi-suk! Come to eat strawberries.” “Mi-suk! Corns are so delicious. I’ll steam them. Come and eat.” “Mi-suk! I went to the hills and picked some salad plants and spring herbs. They are so delicious. Come to eat.” My oldest sister calls me whenever she has something to eat. My siblings are six, and the oldest sister knows how busy I am. Despite that, if she has something delicious, she never misses to call me. She has two large refrigerators and two kimchi refrigerators. A total of four refrigerators are standing side by side in her living room. After her youngest son joined the army, just the two, my sister and her husband, are at home. So it seems that they…

Gwon Mi-suk from Seoul, South Korea

A Happy Task

I wanted my middle school student son to have a meaningful memory before his vacation ended. What I thought of was to let him experience his father’s job. My husband, who is engaged in the distribution business, delivers hundreds of 18 ㎏ [40 lb] cooking oil tins every day. As it is tough work, my husband hesitated, but agreed, and my son too was willing to try it. The day came for him to experience his father’s work. Seeing his dad carrying heavy cooking oil tins, he said, “Dad, you are a real man with veiny arms.” Then after carrying two oil tins, he looked at his forearms and the back of his hands. “Mom, would I look nice if…

Gwon Seong-eun from Uijeongbu, South Korea

Having Dinner My Son Prepared

One day, when my son in his fourth year of elementary school returned home, he said all of a sudden. “Mom, I want to prepare a meal for you.” “Did you have a cooking class at school?” “No. You’ve set the table for me so many times, but I’ve never made a meal for you. So I want to cook something for you.” My son said he would make fried rice wrapped in a thin omelet. I asked him if he knew how to do it. Then he said he would make it according to the recipe on the Internet. I taught him how to use the gas stove and make the dish, and then left for the hospital. He…

Park Gyeong-suk from Paju, South Korea

The Greatest Gift

A few days ago, it was my birthday. I had a busy day so I went out early in the morning and came home late at night. So I didn’t have a proper meal all day long. When I went inside my house, my little daughter burst out of her room and said, “Mom, happy birthday!” giving me a letter with a picture on it. She drew a woman of big face and a small body on a yellow paper, and wrote “Mom” on it. She does not know how to write yet, so she asked her dad to write it instead. That was not all. When she went to a grocery store with her dad, she even bought my…

Choi Yun-hui from Daegu, South Korea

Mom’s Letter

“Mom, it’s me. What are you doing?” “Uh, I’m doing my homework.” “What is it?” “Writing three times what I wrote wrong on my spelling test.” “Mom, don’t write more than three times. I’m afraid it might tire you.” “Well, I’ve already written more than three times.” This is our repetitive conversation we have whenever I call her. My mother, who couldn’t learn at school due to her difficult family circumstances, always felt the lack of learning. Recently, however, she found a Hangul [Korean alphabet] class for illiterate senior citizens. There are three classes a week and she has never been absent. As she did her homework more than assigned, the teacher complimented her and worried about her at the…

Hwang Ju-hui from Suwon, South Korea

Happy Cooking Time

On a national holiday during the year when I became a middle school student, I made up my mind to help my mom a little as she was busy cooking. First of all, I followed her to a grocery store to prepare holiday dishes, pushing a shopping cart. When the cooking day came, I got up a little earlier than usual to help her. The main dish of the day was Sanjeok (traditional skewered food). I sliced ham, an ingredient for the dish. Although I said confidently, “Ham-slicing is my specialty,” it didn’t get sliced as I wanted. Every piece was different in size and shape. My mom said, “What’s this?” but also said with a smile that I did…

Mun Gahng-san from Yongin, South Korea

I Am a Bad Daughter

When I was in elementary school, my father died, and my mom raised her son and three daughters alone. My mom used to go to Jagalchi Market early in the morning and buy a box of fish to sell it in a retail store in the neighborhood; she worked so hard and there was no business that she did not try. My mom always came in late at night, so my two older sisters took care of me and my little brother. Since my brother always ran little errands for my sisters, I had nothing to do as a third, so I just played without feeling the difficulties of life. One day, my mom called me and asked me to…

Choi Yeong-jin from Seoul, South Korea

A United Family in a Difficult Time

One day, my husband came back from work, limping. As I asked him what happened, he said he fell at a small car accident and he felt pain in the leg. He thought he would be okay and came straight home without going to the hospital. I was worried there might be its aftereffect. I simply applied ointment on his bruised knee and put an ice pack on it. I hoped nothing would happen as my husband said he would be okay after a night. The next day, my husband said he should see a doctor. The doctor said he needed to undergo knee ligament surgery. Although he fell slightly, he needed a surgery. My heart sank. However, I felt…

Gye Gyeong-nam from Seoul, South Korea

Love Your Brother as Yourself

My house is always full of noise. The ones who make the noise are my son and daughter who are a year apart in age. The two always play together but mostly end up in a fight. Sometimes, I even order them to keep one meter away from each other. However, while I’m preparing for a meal or cleaning, they get together and play again. Seeing my children, people around me envy me, saying, “It’s so nice to see them get along well and take good care of each other!” Although I’m glad to hear that, I get upset whenever they squabble over nothing at home. One day, my family was given a mission of making a family newspaper and…

Park Jeong-a from Gimcheon, South Korea