My mother, my mother? Where do I even begin? My mother got married at 24. Had my brother at 25, and me at 26. She knew she was done with having kids by 26 which is astounding to me as I wasn't even married at 26! Different times. Different location. She moved to NY when my dad's job shipped the entire family overseas. It was supposed to be a few years starting the NY branch and back to Korea we were all supposed to go. But someone had different plans. We obviously stayed. We had an absolute blast as a family. I remember tons of laughter, silliness, trips, restaurants, amusement parks, hugs, and love. We had a great life. My mom was a full-time mom - supervised homework and piano practice sessions, shuffled us to ice skating and hockey lessons in the city, took us to art classes, and chaperoned class trips. Then our lives turned upside down when my father, Nam Hyong Woo, died suddenly of a heart attack on September 20, 1984 at just 40-years-old. It was my mother who was clearly impacted the most. She was only 36-years-old, left to raise two young children.
I am in awe of my mother. I will never fully know the hardship and heartache she went through. But as a 38-year-old mom of two young children, I now know how much she did for us. She essentially sacrificed her own life during her prime years - literally sacrificed her 30's, 40's and 50's - to give me and my brother the life we have today. She worked 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for 10 years straight. Yet somehow I have memories of weekly trips to the supermarket, her doing our family laundry, bringing home or making dinner every night, and continuing to love and provide. I honestly don't have a single memory of her saying she was tired or complaining about anything.
Now, as a mother of daughter who is a mother herself, she does so much for me and my family so I am able to live the best life I possibly can. She wants me to have a career. My independence. My own source of strength, happiness and pride. She supports me in every way and gives me peace with the decisions I make. For instance, when I travel for work, she tells me over the phone when I'm away that everything is great at home so I don't worry. She'll say, "You must be so stressed with your new job. Don't worry about anything. We are all doing well!" She has done more school pick-ups than Tae and I have done combined. She has cooked more meals for them than Tae and I have combined. She has likely wiped more butts than Tae and I have combined. I don't know another grandmother who adores her grandchildren more. It's so obvious that the girls love their grandmother like no other. I don't expect Lauren and Elizabeth to remember all of her home-cooked meals, or their weekly Music Together and Gymboree classes from infancy to pre-school, or trips to the playground. But I do hope that they always remember the love that was shared between them and the safety they felt whenever they were together.
I love you mom. Happy birthday. Here's to many many many more happy healthy years to come. And thank you.
