Out of all things what I can get for my dad’s birthday and his retirement, I think the best gift I can get for him is this, other than a plane ticket to surprise him at home.

My dad turns 57 years old today; we’re 30 years apart so that makes it easy to remember. This one is probably his best one ’cause he gets to retire! he worked for 31 years at the United States Postal Service. He was a mail handler and for the last five or six years, he worked the forklift. To be frank, I was a little depressed to hear what did he get out of this. All he got was a plaque that’s made of paper and a cake to go with it. That’s it. Not even an ounce of cheese, summer sausage, celery, carrot or a single cracker. Zilch. Just a cake for my dad. He had a clean record—no suspensions or late warnings—and had more than 500 sick hours to spare.

It was only two weeks ago that my team and I had a nice team outing. We went to this cool indoor go-kart racing where we put on racing uniforms and helmets, then had some pizza and soda for lunch. What a contrast. The speaker box blasted on after a half hour of celebration, telling everyone to go back to work. So, after working for more than thirty years for P.O, ensuring that every box goes to your door on time, my dad’s retirement party was over in less than an hour.

I’d like to share a story about how my dad wound up at P.O. He used to work as a printer, along with his good friend who was also deaf. They were good workers who do their jobs well and would know exactly if something went wrong. It could be as obvious as ink running out or as small as a nut getting loose. My dad would see that easily and go to fix it. keeping the whole facility equipment running, which kept the business going and ultimately, for managers to be happy.

For some time, I wonder why did my dad decide to make a jump to work at the P.O. I found out it was because of me. When it came to time for my parents to have a child, they already knew they couldn’t have a child so they wanted to adopt. After they’ve found a child to adopt and that, of course, came with a cost. My dad knew they couldn’t afford the adoption, had he stayed at the printing so he applied and got the job. His math skill helped him out. He had to work on weekends, had Wed, and Thurs off and worked overnight because it paid more than the day. He thought he would eventually work in the day but he never did, though he did have better days off - on Fri and Sat.

For the first year or two, my parents didn’t see each other much but that didn’t bother them, they had the same goal, which was to save up money to afford the adoption. At that time in 1984, the cost was eight grand. They were able to save 7 grand, one thousand short but when the agency found out that I was deaf, they slashed it by half, to four thousand. Ha I’m a bargain child, so to speak.

With those said, I’m ecstatic to see my dad retired and I hope he’ll enjoy his retirement and do whatever he wants. Happy birthday and retirement, Dad. This is yours.

Got an email from my sis, 수빈, that she now has a baby girl! 5 months old.

Learning some 한글 must have worked. All the more reason to go visit Korea soon and study 한글 every night. :-)

나 종일

I’d like to share the passing of my grandmother who died peacefully at one o’clock am, Sunday the 18th of November, 2007.

“Madeline F. Kester, 77, of Chatham, IL died Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at St. John’s Hospice. She was born February 3rd, 1930 at Friedheim, MO to Ben and Edna Moore Kayser. She married Harold Wilbur Kester in 1948; he preceded her in death in 1999 as well as her parents, 3 brothers and 3 sisters.

Mrs. Kester, a registered nurse was last employed at Memorial Medical Center where she worked for 18 years. Prior to becoming a nurse, she worked 15 years at the Warren-Boynton State Bank in New Berlin, IL. She graduated from Perryville High School and Perryville School of Practical Nursing, Springfield College, and St. John’s School of Nursing. She was a Member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chatham and a Memorial Medical Center volunteer.

She is survived by her son H. Wayne (wife Pamela) Kester of New Berlin, grandson Nathan Kester of Mountain View, California, and sister Nell Kieninger of Pocahontas, MO.

Her family will greet relatives and friends from 9 am, until time of services at 10:30 am Tuesday, November 20 at St. John’s Lutheran church, 1225 N. Main, Chatham. Revs. Clarence Rogers and Thomas Philips officiating. Burial at Chatham Memorial Cemetery. Contributions may be made to the St. John’s Lutheran Church in Chatham or the American Heart Association.

Staab Polk Memorial Home, 201 S. Main, Chatham, IL is serving the family.”

She was a dear grandmother to me who gave her unconditional love and support. I thank her for all my success.

Tue Nov 13 2818
Depart San Jose(SJC) at 06:30 AM
Arrive in Phoenix(PHX) at 09:15 AM 3333
Change planes in Phoenix(PHX) departing at 10:55 AM
Arrive in St. Louis(STL) at 02:50 PM

I pretend I’m in a movie, like that movie about a boy trying to get home for christmas and he was the “cute” boy in home improvement with Tim Allen. Only if I could remember the name… Know what I’m talking about? Yeah, you do? ok great…

There’s a few things I gotta do when I step inside my parents’ home. This is the longest time I’ve been away from home. Let me calculate… the last time I was home was uh may.. wow, I can’t remember exactly when. It’s been that long.

I realize I’m no longer a kid who asks dad for some change to play video arcale. How do I know? because this is the first time I’ve paid my own airfare without asking my parents for some help. One thing that will never change. The refigerator is full of foods and all free!

-My parents have tons of things in the house. I gotta find a way to get rid of the things. Selling on ebay is one way.
-I gotta fix my parents’ computer; it probably has more virus than the bird flu.
-I gotta test the cable speed and see if I can get the upload rate up to at least 256 kbps.
-Got a few projects to work on, in which two of them I’m hoping to unveil over the break.
-I plan to do all the cooking for my parents. I was already a chef before I knew it. I will talk abt that later.
-What better way to de-stress? snowboarding! I found out there is a snow resort not very far from my home, about 2 hours away. That means I can go riding where in the past, I thought I had nowhere to go.
-There’s a big poker tournament coming up on the 30th of Dec. This will show how much skill I have in poker. Details to folllow.
-I gotta spend time with my family of three—dad, mom, and grandma—and life is not getting any shorter.

Oh, I remember the name of the movie now. It’s called “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and the boy’s name is Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Any of you ever watched that?

Mom: Are you still at work?
Me: Yes, I am.
Mom: Do you know it’s snowing in DC area now?
Me: Really, it’s snowing hard?
Mom: The Weather Channel said around 1 to 2 inches of snow expected.
Me: Ah ok, I’ll stay here till 8 pm after traffic eases up a bit.
Mom: Ok, if there’s zero visibility outside, don’t try to drive. Stay at a motel.
Me: Mom! I’m sure it’s not that bad.
Mom: You never know. If it’s that bad in the broad daylight, imagine how bad it’ll be when it’s snowing.
Me: I’ll let u know when I get home.

An hour later and we’re on VP (videophone).

Me: I got home ok.
Mom: I can see that. Were the roads bad?
Me: No, it was just a wet road and there was not much traffic as I thought.
Mom: Ok good, I’m happy you got home safely.
Me: Yeah, oh, speaking of snow, could you send me my snowboard boots, gloves, goggle, and pants. I forgot to bring them back with me.
Mom: *shakes her head* ok, I’ll tell Dad to get them. Where did you put them?
Me: It should be either in the garage or in my closet.
Mom: Nothing new; can’t remember where you put stuffs.
Me: you know me.

Dad: Ok, I found them. So, do you want it to be fedex-ed or ground shipping through PO? (my dad works at a post office.)
Me: Uh, how long will the ground shipping take?
Dad: It’ll take abt 7 days.
Me: that long? could you make that in 3 days?
Dad: Ok, I’ll put it through first-class.

First one is the earliest pic I have although my family has more earlier pictures like baek-il, which is a celebration for babies that turn 100 days old, but they wish to keep it. I’ll need to fly back and scan more pictures.

Second one was when I arrived in America and ofc, as any proud happy parent, took me to my first photography session.

Third and fourth were the day I officially became a U.S. citizen. Now, I heard there is a new law signed by ex-President Clinton that all children who got adopted automatically became US citizens, as if they were born in the US. No need to wait for seven years to become one. The man in black gown I stood behind, I believe, was Governer Thompson of Illinois.

Last pic - my high school graduation.

Here are some pics of my Korean family when I visited in 2001. Cool fact: my sister is deaf.