My mom only had one eye. i hated her… she was
such an embarrassment.. my mom ran a small
shop at a flea market. she collected little weeds
and such to sell… anything for the money we
needed.
there was this one day during elementary
school.. 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… "your mom only has one
eye?!?!" ..and they taunted me. i wished that my
mom would just dissappear from this world
so i said to my mom, "mom.. why dont you have
the other eye?! if you’re only gonna make me a
laughingstock, why dont 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 hadnt punished
me, but i didnt think that 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 who was
crying out of her one eye. so i told myself that i
would grow up and become successful. cause i
hated my one-eyed mom and our
desperate poverty..

then i studied real hard. i left my mother and came
to Seoul and studied, 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’m living happily as a
successful man. i like it here because it’s a place
that doesnt remind me of my mom.

this happiness was getting bigger and bigger,
when.. what?! who’s 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 dont know you!!!" as if trying 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’m
so sorry. i may have gotten the wrong address,"
and she dissappeared out of sight.

thank good ness… she doesnt recognize me..
i was quite relieved. i told myself that i wasnt going
to care, or think about this 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. so, lying to my wife that i was going
on a business trip, i went.after the reunion, i went
down to the old shack, that i used to call a
house…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.

my son…
i think my life has been long enough now.. and… i
wont visit Seoul anymore… but would it be too
much to ask if i wanted you to come visit me once
in a while? i miss you so much.. and i was so glad
when i heard you were coming for the reunion.
but i decided not to go to the school. …for you…
and i’m sorry that i only have one eye, and i was
an embarressment for you.

you see, when you were very little, you got into
an accident, and lost your eye. as a mom, i
couldnt stand watching you having to 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 times that you were angry with
me,.. i thought to myself, ‘it’s because he loves
me..’ my son… oh, my son…