One Eye

My mother only had one eye. All my life, I hated her
because she was such an embarrassment to me.
My mom ran a small shop at a flea market. She collected
little weeds and such to sell. Anything for the money we
needed. She cooked for students and teachers to support
the family, she was such an embarrassment.
There was one day , during elementary school, when my
mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed. How
could she do this to me?! I ignored her, threw her a hateful
look and ran out.
The next day at school one of my classmates said,
“EEEEWW, your mom only has one eye!”
I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just
disappear.
So I confronted her that day and said, ” If you’re only gonna
make me a laughing stock , why don’t you just die?”
My mother remained silent. I didn’t even stop to think for a
second about what I had said, because I was so full of
anger. I was oblivious to her feelings. I wanted out of her
house.
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 hadn’t punished me, but I
didn’t 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 sitting there at the kitchen table,
crying quietly, as if she was afraid that she might wake me.
I took a look at her, and 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,
because I hated my one-eyed mom and our desperate
poverty.
Then, I studied really hard. I left my mother and went 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 doesn’t remind me of my mom.
This happiness was getting bigger and bigger, when
someone unexpectedly came to see me.
“What?! Who’s this?” I said, as i opened the front door.
It was my mother. Still with her one eye. It felt as if the
whole sky was falling down on me. My little daughter took
one look at my mother and ran away crying. She was
scared of my mom’s eye.
I turned to my mom and asked her, “Who are you? I don’t
know you!!!”
I really wished that was true.
“How dare you come to my house and scare my daughter?”
I screamed at her, “Get out of here now!”
My mother quietly answered, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I must have
the wrong address.”
She turned and walked away. i watched as she slowly made
her way down the street and disappeared around the
corner.
Thank goodness, I said to myself. She didn’t recognize me.
I was quite relieved. I told myself that I wasn’t going to care
or think about this for the rest of my life.
One day, many years later, I received a letter in the mail. It
was informing me that my class was having a school
reunion. I wanted to see all my old friends from school so I
decided to attend. After the reunion finished, I decided to
pay a visit to the house where I had grown up, just out of
curiosity.
When I got there, the house was empty and falling to ruin.
The neighbors said that my mother had died a few years
before. I did not shed a single tear.
Then, they handed me a sealed envelope. They said that my
mother had wanted me to have it. I opened it and read the
note inside.
“My son, I think my life has been long enough now. I won’t
try to visit you in Seoul anymore, but would it be too much
to ask if I wanted you to come visit me once in a while? I
was so glad to see your face once again. I miss you so
much. You mean the world to me. I have always been so
proud of you, my son.
I am sorry that I only have one eye, and that I was such an
embarrassment to you all your life. You see, when you were
very little, you got into an accident and lost your eye. As a
mother, I couldn’t stand to watch you grow up with only one
eye, so I gave you mine. I never regretted my decision. How
could I? When you love someone, their happiness is far
more important than your own…”
There was more in the letter, but I couldn’t continue
reading. The slip of paper fell from my shaking hands and I
collapsed to my knees, sobbing like a little boy.

Maap gan kalo berantakan dari hp soalnya.

Sumber: www.scaryforkids.com/one-eye/