Family First
I remember clearly how the terrorist attacks on US soil went down on that tragic day of September 11th of 2001. I was home watching television when an emergency news broadcast turned my cartoon channel into a horror show that just occurred in the Big Apple. I was too young then, and I didn't know any better so I assumed that this was some sort of a movie. But I knew something was off when my father stopped putting his tie on and stared at the television in shock with my mother. Then my parents sat both me and my brother and told us to stay at home no matter what for today. And 14 years later, my father tells me that this day was the day his life changed forever.
My father was a businessman. He was the founder and the CEO of his company which he ran for over a decade by the time of that tragic terrorist attack took place. He was always working the longest and the hardest. He worked day and night and he travelled all over the world on business purposes to expand his company. And how exactly busy was my father? He was so busy that according to my mother, I always treated him like a stranger until I was 4 years old because I didn't recognize him. When I asked him about why he was the way he was, he told me "To me, work came first because my work was my company was both my pride and ambition. It was also the only way I could make sure I provide for my kids and my wife so they would never suffer in the ways I did when I was a child." This was my father the entrepreneur who was full of ambition and driven to succeed to achieve his personal goals and to provide for his family.
"But how did this day changed your life forever? It's not like you lost anyone dear to you was taken from you that day or your company was jeopardized as a result.", I asked. "Son, that's not it. My priorities and my ambitions… They were all in a wrong place.", he said. "What do you mean?", I asked." He replied, "I realized that family must come first." And with that reply, I began to understand what he meant.
On that day 14 years ago, my father was putting his tie on because he had a meeting with a buyer in a café in the New York City. He was eager for this deal because he could expand his reaches to the United States if this deal came through. However, all that joy and ambition went up in smoke along with the innocent lives after the World Trade Center crumbled to the ground leaving a pile of rubble and smoke in the sky. And that very café that he would be shaking hands to finalize the deal of his life, would have been crushed by the rubbles of the World Trade Center should this attack have happened just a couple of hours later. And he would be one of those people with their names on engraved on the memorial today. To him, this was a moment of revelation that made him realize what was truly precious to him in life.
From that point on, my father changed drastically. He decided to stay longer with us at our home in New Jersey and delayed or cancelled all of his business trips. He even helped my mother when she went grocery shopping and we ate dinners together as a family. He even decided to pull out of his original deal and decided to relocate his company in the United States so he could stay close to us. As a result, he ended up staying with us for a whole month and this was the longest he has ever stayed with us ever since my mother, my brother, and I moved to United States. He went from a driven businessman to a family man. As he said in the interview, "All of my success won't mean a thing if I leave you all behind helpless like that. Before a businessman, I'm a father and a husband." He continued, "I founded my company to provide for you all but with such dangers out there, how can I just leave you and your mother at home while I travel around the world two thirds of the year? Family means everything to me. Family comes first."
It didn't happen right away but eventually, my father lived up to his promises and changed his priorities after that fateful day. He sold his company and factory in Korea and bought another business in New Jersey. He moved into our home in New Jersey with us a couple of years later after he sorted out his things in Korea. He was with us every day and 4 of us dining together became a regular, normal thing for us. To this day, my father tells me, "Remember, family comes first. A man is nothing if he can't even protect his own family."
Hi Jason, this is MinGu. Great writing, I was really submerged into it. I liked the way you tried to tell the situation by storytelling, starting from the event to conclusion, then moving back to the causes to seek for the ultimate conclusion. The story was solid and didn't have any vague parts, and I see that the most important part comes down to your father's quotation, "Remember, family comes first. A man is nothing if he can't even protect his own family." One thing I want to suggest for the final draft is maybe a little more direct quotations can bring more interview-like atmosphere. Rather than that, everything else was great.
ReplyDeleteHi, Doyoung. I'm Donghee. This is such a touching story. I like it a lot! 1) I love the way you develop the story from the 9/11 crisis to the point where you understand your father's change and explain that. I like it because it made me able to understand your father's experience from your point of view. 2) Everything seemed clear to me, nothing I cannot understand. 3) I believe it is the very title of the writing ; "Family comes first". 4) This is the quotation I like ; "Son, that's not it. My priorities and my ambitions… They were all in a wrong place.", he said. I just love this quotation! I can feel his tone in it, how important that realization was to him, how it has impacted his life. 5) There aren't much quotations and I think you used a few direct quotations very well, quite effectively. 6) It would have been better if you described how the interview was done, like where was the interview conducted, how the atmosphere was, and how his body language was, like gesture or voice tone.
ReplyDelete