November 29, 2012

Mom's Eulogy that Joe read at her funeral on Monday, November 19, 2012.

Dear Umma, 

When I think about where you are now, these verses come to mind:

John 11:24-26

"Martha said to him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day'. Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?'

Like Jesus speaks to Martha, after witnessing her brother buried in the tomb, Martha only understands a glimpse of what resurrection is and tells this to Jesus (Jesus this).  But Jesus promises eternal life. And it brings peace to my heart to know that you are with Him.

Philippians 2:4 says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  You always put others before yourself and I am going to miss that the most.  It isn’t easy to put others first, but you had such a soft, generous, and sacrificial heart, it seemed to (have) just come naturally. You always thought about others and were concerned for them.  I remember even before you passed away, you asked some "jib-sah-neems" if they had eaten even when you hadn’t eaten yet. Like Jesus thinking about us and dying on the cross for our sake, putting us first, you always put others first. 

- I’m going to miss your down to earth personality and carefree spirit.

- You always laughed at the most lame things and that actually made us laugh. 

-I’m going to miss helping you out at the dry cleaners. You were always talking on the phone while doing alterations (at the dry cleaners). That’s probably why you often didn’t get customers’ clothes finished on time. They would get upset but kept coming back regardless because you were the best at what you did. Anna told me that one time, while you were sleeping, you even dreamt and said, “I’m sorry, come back tomorrow.” 

-I’m sure everyone here will agree with me when I say, “You made the best ho-dduhk ever! (.)”

-From you I’ve learned to appreciate nature more because of your love for orchids, flowers, cactus, and plants. 

-I remember whenever you saw a penny on the floor you would pick it up and be so happy.  

-I’m going to miss how you weren’t so concerned about appearance, but you cared more about character.  I remember Becca always nagged at you for wearing tacky outfits with pieces that didn’t match but you could care less and still managed to wear your outfits with confidence. Afterall, last I checked, you went to fashion school and she didn’t. 

When I hear the song “Nae-Ihll Ihll-Uhn Nahn Moh-La-Yoh", I think of you, mom. I remember when appa bought our first karaoke machine. You chose to sing this song, but you weren’t able to finish singing this song because you chose too high of a key. Though you never finished singing the song that day, I can say that this was your life anthem and you lived it. Some of the lyrics go as follows: “I don’t know about tomorrow, I live one day at a time. I travel this unknown road and there is no end. So Lord, stretch out your hand and take hold of my hand. Like the road you walked, Lord, it’s tiring and hard; I still walk praising You.” Your life, especially after dad went Home, was not easy. But still, you persevered.  

I admired you so much because of the strength and courage you had throughout the years after dad had passed.  I know it was hard for you emotionally. You would have breakdowns here and there and get mad at us. There were even days, when you expressed to us that you didn’t want to live. Although we could not fully understand the pain and suffering you were feeling, and couldn‘t find the right words to console you, thank you for having the courage to still live. You taught me to be strong when times got rough; but more importantly you taught me to be content with what we did not have and thankful for what we did have.

Your last days here on earth were a struggle, but also victorious. We could only imagine how much pain you were in. You would complain here and there about the pain, you wouldn‘t listen to me about eating and drinking the Carrot and Green juices, and your stubbornness was mightier than ours at times.  But who could blame you. You still fought hard and endured patiently against a painful disease.

There is much sorrow and pain now that you are no longer here with us here on earth. But we are still able to rejoice because we have full confidence that you are fully healed and at home with the Lord. Thanks mom, for all that you’ve taught us- that in everything God is still faithful and good. And thank you for allowing us to witness throughout your life that you were fighting the good fight; in the end, you finished the race; and now you’ve moved on from faith to sight.  

Love, 

Anna, Becca, Joe


Edits in bold with original in (parenthesis).

Things I miss about mom today:

-No mom to call after work or ask what we are eating for dinner. I called mom almost everyday after I ended work on my walk to the car.

-No mom to ask about Korean cooking. I used to ask mom about Korean cooking rules. Yesterday, I made dinner (Moo-Gook, Buhl-Go-Gih, Soba Salad) for Ang/Steve/Isaiah. I needed to use soy sauce to marinate the meat. I pulled out the only soy sauce we had that I knew wasn't Gook-Soy Sauce. Wasn't sure if I was supposed to use this soy sauce to marinate meat. So I called Chris/Ponti's mom and asked her.