My Father's White Sneakers

With a lame leg, my father lived his life relying on his crutches.
My father started to practice walking without crutches around the time I, his eldest daughter, told him I wanted to get married.
Each step he took looked so dangerous…
I really didn't want my husband to notice my father's crutches when he came over to meet my father for the first time.
After they met, my father practiced walking even more than before. Each time he tried to walk, there would be sweat all over his wrinkled face.
As much as I tried to dissuade him from trying so hard, my father’s response was always the same.

"If I want to take your hand and walk you down the aisle on your wedding, I should at least be able to walk."

I was secretly hoping that one of my uncles would take his place.
I did not want my in-laws to see my father limping with his prosthetic leg.
With a white pair of sneakers he got from somewhere, my father continued to practice very hard.
All the while my wedding day grew closer and closer.
I understood my father, but I started to dread the day a little by little.

“ What if he trips? What if the guests talk behind his back? “

With a sigh, one day passed, then two…… Finally, my wedding day came.
I was a happy bride blessed with wishes from everyone…
My father came into the bride’s room limping, and my heart sank as I saw his shoes.
He was wearing his white sneakers with a fine tuxedo.

“ Who in the world would have told my father to wear those sneakers? “

My face blushed. At the thought of those white pair of sneakers, I couldn't lift my head nor smile throughout the ceremony.
A few years have passed. Not until I rushed to the hospital upon the news that my father was gravely ill did I learn the true story behind the sneakers.

"Be good to your husband. To tell you the truth, I didn’t have the confidence to walk you down on your wedding day. But your husband came to see me everyday and encouraged me, and even bought me sneakers to wear so that I wouldn't fall."

My throat suddenly choked and I couldn’t say a word.
The white sneakers are now old and tattered and my father will never have a chance to wear them again for he passed away.
100th Customer

The lunch rush hour has passed and only a few customers remain in the restaurant.
As the owner was skimming through the newspaper, the door opened and an old woman and a filthy child walked in.

“ Excuse me…I am wondering how much a bowl of beef soup costs. “

The old woman, half sitting, took out her money pouch from under her skirt and ordered one bowl of beef soup.
A bowl of steaming hot soup! The old woman pushed the bowl toward her grandson.

The boy’s mouth watered as he looked at his grandmother.

"Grandma, did you really have lunch?"
“Of course”.

While the grandmother chewed on a cube of radish
Kimchi her grandson gobbled up the beef soup.
The restaurant owner who was watching them walked over to their table.

"Grandmother, You are very lucky today. You are our 100th customer."

The owner gave the meal for free.

Around one month later, The young boy sat crouched across the street from the restaurant and was busy with something.
The restaurant owner was looking out the window and he was surprised at what he saw.

Each time a customer entered the restaurant, the young boy took a small stone and placed it inside a circle he had drawn.

The lunch rush hour was passing, but the number of stones only reached fifty.
The restaurant owner had to think fast and he called his customers.

"Are you busy? Why don’t you come over and have some beef soup? It's on the house today."

After the owner made calls to the whole neighborhood, people started streaming into the restaurant.

“Eighty one, eighty two, eighty three,…… “

The young boy counted faster and faster.

When the 99th stone was placed in the circle, the young boy quickly grabbed his grandmother’s hands and led her into the restaurant.
“Grandmother, I will treat you lunch this time.”

As the 100th customer, the grandmother enjoyed her free bowl of warm beef soup, and just as his grandmother had done, the young boy just chewed on a cube of radish Kimchi.

"Should I give the boy a bowl of soup too?"
"Shh! He's learning how to be full without actually eating."

The grandmother asked the boy whether he would like some, but he stuck out his stomach and said,

“No, grandma, I’m full….see?”

The Flower Sowing Mailman
Once upon a time in a little town far away, there lived an old mailman.
Since his early twenties, he delivered both sad and happy mails as he traveled over 10 miles everyday.
20 years have passed… Things have changed, but the dusty road from the little village to the post office remained the same.

“How long must I travel this same dusty road?”

He was always frustrated at the thought that his life might end as he lives a routine life.
One day, on his way back from his deliveries, he happened to be pass by a flower shop.

“This is it…”

After slapping his knee, he walked into the flower shop and bought some wild flower seeds.
Starting from the very next day, he began to sow the seeds on the deserted road to and from his deliveries.
One day, two days, one month, two months passed by, and he continued to sow the seeds.

Soon thereafter…

Yellow and red flowers began to bloom along the dusty road the mailman has traveled for the past 20 years.
Summer brought summer flowers, autumn brought autumn flowers… the flowers bloomed continuously from season to season.
The colorful flowers and its sweet fragrance were special gifts for the townspeople, more precious than any mail the mailman had ever delivered.
The mailman whistled as he peddled down the road covered with flowers instead of dust. He was no longer a lonely nor a miserable mailman.

Love on the CB Radio

I was driving through a southern city with my truck full of packages.
A young boy’s voice came out of my old beat up CB radio.
This is Teddy Bear. This is Teddy Bear. Truck driver, please respond.

Teddy was eager to communicate with the truck driver.
He was lonely.

For a disabled boy who couldn’t walk, books were his only friends,
and within his little heart grew a dream of studying hard and becoming a great doctor.

The boy’s father was a truck driver.

The father took his son who had been stuck in the stuffy room all day, and got him in his truck.
From the ends of the earth to the sky…the father wanted to take him anywhere.

Teddy was the happiest boy in the whole world when his father took him for a ride to the lake or to the city in his 18- wheeler.
But the boy’s happiness did not last very long.

"Daddy, promise you’ll bring me a present."

It was Teddy’s birthday.

The father, promising to bring his son an armful of presents, drove away in his truck.
White snow fell from the sky as if to wish the boy a happy birthday.

After delivering the packages, the father headed home with presents for Teddy just as he had promised.

Right then, the truck slid on the snowy road and…
The boy’s heart-aching story reached out to me through the old CB radio.

The boy cried as he told me he no longer would be able to ride in his father's 18-wheeler.
Taking hold of my emotions, I changed directions.

I then headed toward the village where the boy lived.
As I drove over the hill into the village, I couldn’t believe what I saw.

Dozens of 18-wheelers surrounded the boy’s house.
Endless number of trucks kept arriving.

Truck drivers who were within several kilometer radius had heard our conversation transmitted over the radio.
Each of the drivers took Teddy for a ride around the neighborhood…just as the boy's father has done for Teddy.

Simple Things In Life

He is a discouraged husband in his forties.
He is a hard-working salary man trying to survive the restructuring of his company.

But he can't talk about his frustrations at home.
All he does is smoke to relieve his stress.

The reproachful boss…the heavy task…
The stressful environment makes him feel weaker.
His wife is miserable.

“ sigh More debts… “

She's sick of debts, sick of watching every penny… She wishes to freely spend money.
Her frustration keeps growing.

“She didn't expect to live like this after marriage… She used to be happy…”

She feels frustrated more and more… The couple doesn't even talk much anymore.
On their anniversary… The husband promises a special gift to his disappointed wife.

His wife cheerfully followed him.
The wife expected to go shopping or eat out, but the place her husband took her was neither a mall nor a fancy restaurant.

There was a rice store, a small convenience store…

The village, full of houses crowded together, was where the couple had lived as newlyweds.
The couple found their way to the tiny room they had once lived.

Through the window, they saw husband and wife with a cute baby who could be full over a skimpy meal.
That was exactly how they were 10 years ago.
The wife who quietly stood there began to speak as she wiped her tears,

“Honey…we have forgotten the simple things in life. “
“Yes…the simple things in life.”

The simple things in life… That was the most precious gift in the world.