Note: Kind of weird posting it on here, but I needed some long form medium to spill my guts on.
My father died. I can't believe I
just wrote that. I can't believe it is true.
He suffered a heart attack early
Saturday morning. He was attempting to play some golf, an activity he never had
time for all the years he worked. He was trying to enjoy a newfound
freedom of semi-retirement: actual weekends off.
He soon felt ill and was taken to a
hospital. By the time I arrived they were rushing him to another hospital to
try emergency surgery. They told me it was a seriously blocked artery. I followed with my mom. He never woke up.
I originally had plans on visiting
him that day: catch up, run some errands together, grill some BBQ. I now found
myself planning his funeral.
I get it, life isn’t supposed to be
fair. But did it have to drive that point home with such brutal emphasis?
To lose him on a random Saturday
morning like is about as jarring and as nonsensical as if he was shot by a
stray sniper bullet.
My father had no history of heart
trouble or cancer or anything else. He rarely got sick. And when he did get
sick he would apparently will himself to get better if only because so many
people relied on him. He was the youngest sibling in a family of the hardiest,
sturdiest, dogged group of workhorses imaginable (unfortunately I take more
from my mother’s more mortal side of the family) and they have all now outlived
him.
What’s so cruel and unjust about
this whole thing was the timing of it all. He had worked himself ragged his
whole life: growing up in post war Korea into punishing poverty without a
father since age 9, coming to America and working nearly every day to run his own
business, taking what little free time he had to make sure his kids had
everything they needed to have a better life.
Few had ever deserved a break like
my father. He was finally going to take it easy. He finally had time to
properly work on the lawn. He finally had time to remodel the house. He finally
had time to travel with my mom. He was finally going to take a leisurely well-earned
victory lap enjoying the fruits of his labor with the company of the family he dedicated his whole life supporting.
He was our foundation, he was our core, he was our rock. And now he is gone and it is devastating.
It's unrealistic for me to tell you that you should always let their parents know how much they love them. That will devalue it. But just try to get one moment where you tell them how much they mean to you so it is confirmed and in the books.
That’s all I really wanted say, the
rest is just a random, rambling list of observations and memories I wrote out
last night because I couldn’t sleep. I’m sure the language and grammar and
disjointedness reflect that:
- My dad never wore a nice pair of shoes, he bought the
cheapest brands from Walmart or wherever and wore them into the ground.
- My dad was decent. He was the most decent man I ever
knew. He was almost decent to a fault.
- He always gave a 100% at everything he was tasked with.
Even something as simple as sweeping the floor. He would sweep with full
dedication. When work had to be done, did it, no questions asked, no
complaints, never a moment of slack effort.
- He lived for his family. He had no time for hobbies or
personal interests, he had to work hard so we could live a better life. He
never wanted anything but to give back to his family. He was impossible
to buy presents for.
- It would have to be at gunpoint if he was ever going to
accept money from his children.
- I was really looking forward to seeing him slow down, to
finally have the time to take up a hobby. He tried to hide it but I could
see that he was fascinated with RC aircrafts and now RC drones; I was
finally going to nail him down with a present.
- He yelled a lot and wasn't the most open with his
feelings but you knew everything he did was from a place of love. He had a kind soul.
- As someone who grew up without enough to eat, he would
be overly preoccupied with his children eating enough. He would never
finish his meal and would always give us his food.
- Like his shoes he wore his clothes until they failed.
Most of his daily wardrobe were either worn, had holes, or permanent
stains from work. He lived through the charity of whatever my mother would
buy for him.
- If I had a quarter of his work ethic, I might be a
millionaire.
- His hands were rough and weathered. I once wrote
a monologue for a college speech class about his coarse hands, worn
down by work and how my hands were so pristine by comparison.
- His feet smelled, because he was on them all day.
- He was incapable of sleeping in late.
- He helped me move into my new apartment; the last time
he visited it he actually complimented me on how nice a job I did in
setting it up and then threw in how it could have room for one more
occupant (never missed an opportunity to push the marriage issue on me).
- Whenever my sister caused trouble, he defended her more
than anyone. I think he saw a lot of himself in her.
- He fixed things: cars, the house, appliances, anything
you gave him. His countless tools are littered throughout the house.
- He was cynical and pessimistic about a lot of things in
life. He was wary of my mother’s church friends and he believed anyone in NYC
with an out of state license plate was cheating to get insurance discounts.
But when it came to his kids he had boundless optimism. When I was worried
about getting accepted into NYU, he literally offered to bet me money that
I would get in.
- He wore caps a lot, some still have his smell.
- He was the greatest driver I ever knew. He learned to
drive in the Korean Army. He drove everything from 18 wheelers to forklifts
to the family minivan. He could parallel park on a dime; one shot no
hesitation.
- He drove me through a blizzard to Albany at 5 in the
morning to get me sworn into the bar.
- He helped me install my air conditioner every year.
- To my friends he was always Mr. Lee. He intimidated all
my friends.
- And now I will never see him again.
- He was supposed to pick me up from the light rail
station after his golf game. Knowing him he was probably concerned about
that even when he was headed to the hospital.
- I was supposed to see him Friday night and I moved it
to Saturday morning. I would have seen him like an extra few hours tops,
but what I wouldn't give to have that time back. It’s best not to dwell on
such thoughts.
- I will miss:
- Our trips to Costco which would always involve us
window shopping the big screen TVs, the purchase of a rotisserie chicken
on top of anything else, and hot dogs and soda afterwards.
- Our trips to my apartment, driving down 1-9 talking about world events and complaining about traffic.
- Our early morning Sunday trips to my grandmother’s
grave. We were the only ones who visited it regularly. It was our joint
ritual of grief. He was always so concerned about the state of the grass
on it, tirelessly worked to have it better taken care of by the staff. We
would say our peace and go home. He will be buried in the plot next to her. I now
realize I’ll have to make that trip alone to visit both of them and it
hurts.
- I was the designated flashlight holder when he was
fixing things, he would yell at me for not following his view.
- He barely drank. The only time he ever drank at home was when I came over.
- He would drink the worst coffee and at any temperature.
- I can’t recall the last time I hugged him.
- He taught himself to use the computer just so he could
watch Korean TV on the Internet. When I got home I saw his computer was
still on and queued to a video.
- When I picked up his car from the golf course, he had
managed to neatly place his bag inside the trunk and the seat was down to
where he reclined to wait for the ambulance. It took me a second to get it
together.
- There was always a language barrier between us so I
never got to have a deep conversation with him and vice versa. This is the
curse of immigrant children.
- He would get angry but would always feel bad about it.
- The one thing in the world that consistently made me
cry would be if I ever thought that I was letting him down. That's when
the waterworks would start.
- Didn't care for church, not sure if he believed it. He
had lived a hard enough life to be skeptical.
- Every time I prayed at night I would pray for my
parents to be healthy and happy; I can't understand why this would be the
response.
- He was my dad and he was my hero. Really he was.
- He hated filling out paperwork and was eternally
grateful when I did the monthly bills.
- He actually felt sorry for me that I was working so hard at my
job. What a joke.
- He would only brag about his children. He would show my
game show clips to anyone who was (or not) interested.
- Said singing and dancing were his greatest
deficiencies.
- Yelled at me for talking at the dinner table.
- Was proud that I knew so many facts.
- Always felt bad that he was never around enough growing
up, thought he let us down a little. You never did Dad, you never did.
- Always wondered if there was something more he could
do.
- Great worker but unlucky at times in business. At least
twice in his life he had to close a store and start all over again. If
there was ever evidence against the idea that hard work alone would lead
to success it was him.
- Really pushed me to become a lawyer. I am willing to
forgive him for that, his heart was in the right place, he just wanted me
to make good money and have a secure job.
- He once told me he would be a wonderful grandfather and
how awesome he was with children; when I jokingly told him how I don't
recall playing with him much growing up - He told me he was too busy but he always wanted to.
- He was the guy who hooked up the video game systems.
- Any bit of practical sense in me is from him.
- He would have been a great engineer if he ever had
the opportunity to go to college.
- He loved his mama. I loved my grandma. We bonded over
that.
- Kept giving me tons of PBA cards even when I didn't
drive anymore.
- I will always associate Korean curse words from him.
- His stockpile of Commerce and TD Bank pens will last
the next generation and beyond.
- I inherited his ability to sweat but not much of
his ability to earn a sweat.
- He once knocked down a house of cards I spent hours
making when I was 10 and I got blindingly mad at him. The next morning I
woke up and I found that he had reassembled it before he left for work at
like 5 in the morning. I was still mad so I knocked it down.
- He used to drive trucks at 3 in the morning.
- I can't believe he is gone.
- What the fuck happened?
- He was relentless on getting me to marry. It was
terrible, but in keeping with his character he only pushed it because the
idea that such a catch like me would be single was due to me rejecting
everyone I met.
- He won't be there for my sister at her wedding.
- He would fall asleep in the living room. He would snore
if he was really tired.
- He liked fishing. He always wanted to see Alaska.
- We once had a long conversation about driving that big highway in Key West
- There are only 2 people I know for sure in the world
that love me without reservations and I just lost one.
- Whenever I helped him with a computer problem or
reading a document that he didn’t quite understand he would thank me and tell
me “what will I do without you?” Now I ask myself what will I do without
him?
