Family

For as long as a I can remember my family has always owned some sort of store. We first owned a gas station in a small town called Tenino which later we sold and built a store in Olympia which then we added a pizza store to. Not to long ago my parents ended up selling this store and were retired for a short amount of time. During this tine they went to Europe and enjoyed the life of not working. Now they have ventured off and purchased another store this time in Elma.(pictures will be added later). I am extremly proud of what my parents have accomplished. They were able to move here from Korea, my dad was able to get a masters in engineering, they were able to put three kids through college and even pay for our living expenses. I can honestly say that I am one of the lucky ones who has parents that are caring enough to support us through what ever we wanted to do. Well recently I went down to Elma to say to my dad (he bought a trailor and lives in the back parking lot of the store, Elma is a hour south of Olympia or 2 hours from Seattle) and I realized exactly how old he has gotten in the past 6 months from working at the store. He literally is opening the store at 5 in the morning and closing the store at 12 at night and sleeping in the trailor in the parking lot. I am normally not the type to show too much emotion in front of people, let alone by dad but when I saw I him I couldn’t help but say hi and quickly walk away to the bathroom to wipe the tear away from my eyes. I couldn’t help but think that he doesn’t need to work. Our family will do ok without him and my mom slaving over a store but they choose to continue to work to help us (the kids) get something extra. It also made me think that he has no enjoyment in his life. He doesn’t have the chance to go out and golf anymore let alone eat dinner at home.

Dad I know you will never ever see this, nor will I ever tell you this in person but thank you for all that you have done for me, eric and 누나. We all makes mistakes in life and I have forgave you for most of them. You worked endlessly so that all three of us can have an education and make something of ourselves. You have reached that so called “American dream” and you can rest now. We can take it from here.

Mom. All I need to say is thank you and I love you.