![]() She still wears sweatpants that sag at the knees and a Cornell University sweater that’s severely frayed at the neck. There are bits of marble placed throughout the apartment to give it a touch of luxury. The bushes outside are manicured into perfect squares while vibrant tulips surround a welcome sign. Other than having her body scrubbed at the bathhouse on Saturday mornings, Mother rarely did anything nice for herself, so I assumed she had purchased a run-down property she would have to fix up. When I arrived, I was shocked at how pristine it was. Mother now lives on the second floor of a garden-style apartment complex. She didn’t ask about any other aspects of my life, but I decoded that breakfast meant: how are you? I was accustomed to not revealing much information about myself to Mother, so I kept the conversations brief and to the point, “Yes, I had cereal.” As I remained many states away from her, visiting her less and less, she distanced herself, calling me once every other week to ask if I’d eaten breakfast. For the first four years after I moved across the country to New York for college, she took time out in her workday to call and ask if I’d eaten breakfast. I plan to take the next two weeks to come up with another lie to extend my stay. I reassured her that I’m simply using up my vacation days and that the apartment is in fine condition. The sudden announcement of my descent into Koreatown, Los Angeles, did raise two questions, “What about your job? Did something happen to your apartment?” In this case it meant that she welcomed me into her home with open arms. It’s my job to read between the lines and find the messages hidden deep within these bare facts. Mother speaks in code, a language I’ve studied arduously between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. When she’s not playfully berating me, she lists facts. Then she cleared her throat and stated that it’s been three years since I’d seen her or been back home. When I informed Mother I was going to be staying with her for a few weeks, she lingered in her silence for so long I had to ask if she was still on the line. ![]() Eventually, I got my head together and decided to come back home to collect myself. During the course of the divorce, I lost the apartment, got fired from my copywriting job, had two bouts of the stomach flu, and accumulated a ghastly amount in overdraft fees. The reason I didn’t tell Mother about the marriage is simple: she is firmly against my marrying anyone who’s not Korean. We were married for six months before he filed for divorce. I married a man I had dated for two years in an intimate barn ceremony in New Jersey, surrounded by our friends and his family. Of course, Mother doesn’t know about the divorce because she doesn’t know that I was married.īefore you envision a scrappy wedding at some chapel in Vegas with the names of the bride and groom written in chalk, I assure you that wasn’t the case at all. I moved in with her, occupying the futon in her newly purchased one-bedroom apartment, after my divorce was finalized a week ago. ![]() Table of Contents CPU Plaza Puzzle Piece 1 Puzzle Piece 2 Puzzle Piece 3 Puzzle Piece 4 Cooling Springs - Bot Beach Puzzle Piece 1 Puzzle Piece 2 Puzzle Piece 3 Puzzle Piece 4 Cooling Springs - Springy Spa Puzzle Piece 1 Puzzle Piece 2 Puzzle Piece 3 Puzzle Piece 4 Cooling Springs - Frigid Floes Puzzle Piece 1 Puzzle Piece 2 Puzzle Piece 3 Puzzle Piece 4 Cooling Springs - Hotel Hopalot Puzzle Piece 1 Puzzle Piece 2 Puzzle Piece 3 Puzzle Piece 4 GPU Jungle - Renderforest Puzzle Piece 1 Puzzle Piece 2 Puzzle Piece 3 Puzzle Piece 4 GPU Jungle - Terratop Treetops Puzzle Piece 1 Puzzle Piece 2 Puzzle Piece 3 Puzzle Piece 4 GPU Jungle - Raytrace Ruins Puzzle Piece 1 Puzzle Piece 2 Puzzle Piece 3 Puzzle Piece 4 GPU Jungle - Mt.Unbeknownst to Mother, I plan to live with her indefinitely. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |