Sharon Choi (Seoul): “Swing High, Swing Low”
Sharon Listen to Podcast
Seoul, Rep. of Korea
The misfortunes of the Park family began years ago. Mrs. Park got sick and passed away, leaving a young baby and Mr. Park. For years, Mr. Park could not accept his wife’s death. He was always drunk and didn’t take care of his son very well, so his son learned to take care of himself and matured at an early age.
Last year, after what happened at the playground, Mr. Park promised himself to move on.
As a rare treat, Mr. Park had taken his son to the park that day. On a nearby bench, he sat, and let his son play. About 30 minutes later, he heard a loud cry. Mr. Park hurried to the playground. When he arrived, a group was gathering around his son and a little girl who was crying.
“What did he do, sweetie?, asked one ahjumma* who seemed like the girl’s mother.
“I wanted to ride the swing, but he wouldn’t move so I asked him to move, and then he pushed me,” said the young girl.
“What? He pushed you?! Are you okay?” said the ahjumma. Turning to the boy, she yelled. “What were you thinking of? Did your parents teach you to push someone who wants to take a turn riding the swing?”
Gazing at her with big innocent eyes, the boy didn’t answer her; the ahjumma got furious and began to slap his face. When Mr. Park stepped forward to protect his son, the lady sneered, “Look who’s here! Hello, Mr. Park. Do you remember me? I used to be your neighbor. This rude boy here is your son? Wow! What a surprise! I guess any child who grows up without a parent is always rude and not raised properly, so, it’s not surprising that your son acted this way. Having no mother to teach him what is right and wrong….” Mr. Park was angry with the ahjumma for criticizing him in public. But he felt ashamed to hear that his son hadn’t been raised properly without a mother.
Mr. Park changed after that day. He became a strict father who set goals: find a job, give his son the best education possible, and fill both mother’s and father’s place for his son.
It took one year. Mr. Park, having obtained a job at one of the biggest companies in Korea, earned a satisfying salary. Though Mr. Park could now provide everything for his son, he couldn’t do anything about his son being lonely. Whenever the boy returned home from kindergarten, the house was dark and empty. Tired of waiting, he would fall asleep before seeing his dad come home. One day, Mr. Park came home past midnight. Exhausted, he got into the bed without even changing his clothes. Suddenly, he felt hot water all over the bed. It was a bowl of instant noodles. Mr. Park knew that his son had made this mess; he went to his son’s room and punished him by beating his legs with a thick rod. The boy didn’t cry or say anything. Mr. Park was furious. All his effort to teach his son about what was right and wrong had come to nothing. His son’s action that day disappointed and surprised him. Ever since what happened at the playground, the boy had never done anything wrong. He was obedient and quiet.
A few days later, Mr. Park got a call from his son’s kindergarten teacher who told him that his son had not come to school that day. Mr. Park immediately grabbed his jacket and ran out of the building to look for his son. He wondered what was going on; his son loved kindergarten so much that he never wanted to miss it. After several hours of hunting all around the neighborhood, stopping strangers to ask if they had seen his son, he finally found his son at the playground, sitting on the swing. Unable to control his temper, he found himself hitting his son again. Like the last time, the boy didn’t cry or say a word. All he said was, “Sorry, appa*.”
Several months passed and it was already the end of the year. Mr. Park had so much work to finish before the new year that he spent less time than ever to take care of his son. Then one day, he got a call from the post office.
The man on the other end was sputtering, “That son of yours put 300 letters in the mailbox with no receiving address or stamps! We have more than enough mails to deliver and we don’t have time to fool around. Just picking out those 300 letters took us more than six hours! Do you think we have time to waste? What were you doing when your son was creating this chaos? Take care and teach your son to know better! And come get these letters right now!”
He rushed to the post office where they gave him all the letters that his son had written. Humiliated once again, Mr. Park could not do anything but apologize. Curious to see what his son had written, he opened one and began reading:
Umma*~
Hi! Today, I went to the playground with appa. I finally got on the swing after waiting for a long time. But then, this girl came and asked me to move because she wanted to swing. Why couldn’t she wait? Ignoring her, I kept swinging, but she came and stood right in front of me. I was afraid she was going to get hit, so I pushed her away. Then she started to wail so hard that all the adults rushed over. This ahjumma went to the girl and asked if she was okay. Then, she glared and began to scold me. I didn’t know what to say, so I stayed quiet. But she slapped my face. I felt like my face was burning. She asked me if my parents had taught me to push people. I felt like crying because I only had appa. Sad and embarrassed, appa came and stood in front of me, but I was very glad to see him. The ahjumma knew you and appa. She said I was rude because I didn’t have a mom to guide me what is right and wrong. Umma, it’s okay. I don’t blame you. I was the one who was rude. But I kind of don’t like you because you left me and appa and went somewhere. Where are you? Please come back to us.
Mr. Park had never known that his son had felt this way that day at the playground. He thought his son was too young to understand, but now he knew: his son had understood everything. He opened the second letter.Hi Umma,
I miss you. Today appa came home late, knowing that he would be hungry, I cooked a cup of noodles. I waited for him, but he came home so late that I was afraid the food would get cold, so I placed it under the blanket to keep it warm. Appa didn’t know food was there and he spilled it. He hit me, but I didn’t cry. I knew that if I cried appa would cry too. Ever since you left, I have heard him cry every night. I didn’t want him to cry because of me.When Mr. Park had finished reading the letter, he couldn’t stop his tears. He had not known that his son cared about him this much. He was also proud of his son for being mature enough to understand his dad. He opened the next letter:Hello,
Today I didn’t go to school because it was parents’ day. We were supposed to go to school with our parents and have a fun party. I didn’t want to go with just appa; I knew everyone else would come with both parents. Seeing that, appa would have cried and felt bad for me. So I didn’t even give him the invitation and instead, I decided to skip kindergarten that day. Appa came looking for me at the playground. He hit me again, but I didn’t cry. I knew I shouldn’t cry. He is working hard for me, I don’t want to disappoint him. Umma, I miss you so much, but I don’t remember your voice. Appa said your voice was like his morning cup of coffee. Will you speak to me in my dreams so I can remember you? Appa always sleeps holding your picture in his hand. Do you visit him? I will sleep with your picture in my hand, so will you please visit me?
Mr. Park went home early that day and hugged his son hard. He said he was sorry and told him how much he loved him. Hugging each other, father and son cried and cried. After hours of crying, they sat on the bed and talked and laughed. Mr. Park suddenly got curious and asked his son, “Why did you put in all 300 letters to your mother this year? What made you collect them and finally put them in the mailbox?”The son said, “Appa, I was too short before to reach the mailbox, so I couldn’t put in the letters. But this year, I was grew tall enough, so I put in all the letters I wrote until now.”Mr. Park was happy to hear that his son had grown and felt proud of his son for being so grown-up. That day, they laughed and had fun together for the first time since Mrs. Park had died. They promised not to keep secrets from each other, and would try hard to live the best lives possible to show mom that they can be happy now. They were one step closer to each other and one big step closer to a happy life. They slept in the boy’s small bed, Mr. Park hugging his son, who held his umma’s picture tightly. That night, father and son slept with the happiest smiles on their faces. Mrs. Park was visiting them in their dreams.*appa: father in Korean
*ahjumma: woman/married woman in Korean
*umma: mother in Korean
