My Family Story

Mom and Strawberry

In my childhood, my family was very poor. When the six members of my family lay in a single room, we had no space to turn over. My parents leased farms from others to raise their four children. One day,…

Park Eun-ja from Gumi, South Korea

Chocolate Milk

My husband bought banana milk on his way home. It was what he had not done before. Even when I wanted to have quality family time and asked him to eat out all together, he would say, “Three of you…

Hong Seon-ok from Seoul, South Korea

Dad’s Most Concerned Child

I am the third oldest one of four daughters. There is an old joke in Korea, “The third oldest daughters are so pretty that men are willing to take them as their wives without even seeing them.” However, I was…

Ha Jeong-oh from Jinju, South Korea

Well Done!

A mother wheeled a stroller into the elevator. The hair of the child sitting in the stroller was shinny and eye-catching. Then I noticed a mark on his wrist. It was like a “Well Done” stamp. “Hi. What’s on your…

Choi Seok-hui from Seongnam, South Korea

Mom Never Yields with the Power of Love for Her Children

My phone rang while I was washing dishes. It was Mom. I could guess why she was calling me. Mom must have called me to give me some side dishes. At the thought, ‘I should’ve called her first,’ I was…

Lee Su-ja from Gumi, South Korea

Lost Shoes Back

My grandma always wants to give me more. When I was in elementary school, she bought me a desk for hard study. She paid for school uniforms in my middle and high school days. When I became a college student…

Oh Jin-hui from Anyang, South Korea

Filial Piety Is…

Recently, my right wrist hurt. I thought it would be healed soon that I had no regard for it. But the pain worsened as days went by. I was just enduring pain, wearing a wrist brace and doing hot towel…

Jang Sun-hyang from Seoul, South Korea

My First Salary

I checked the text message at a vibration of my cell phone. My salary was deposited. I was happy because it was the first salary in my life. ‘Is this really mine? How should I use it?’ I thought of…

Kim Seon-wu from Seongnam, South Korea

Beautiful Mind and Touching Words

My first eight-year-old son is easily frightened. When he went to the bathroom or needed water to drink at night, he had to wake me or my husband up. One day, however, he woke up at dawn and went to…

Jeong Eun-yeong from Uijeongbu, South Korea

My Father

It was when I went to my parents’ house for the first holiday after my marriage. Resting in a room, I heard Dad and my husband were talking in the living room. Later, my husband came into the room and…

Tak Jin-seul from Anyang, South Korea

Older Sister’s Confession of Love

It was the Lunar New Year holidays during the winter vacation when I was in the second grade of elementary school. My aunt, who had lived close at hand and moved to a remote city, visited our home. We were…

Han Yu-mi from Changwon, South Korea