Sorry sons.
I haven’t seen you in a long time. It’s been quite hard, but unfortunately, I have to wait until Dad makes enough in income to satisfy your mom’s needs. We’ll talk about this more as you get older. For the meantime, I can only apologize and hope that my luck only gets better.
With that luck, I’ll be even luckier to see you both.
I love you boys. I really miss you…
Hi Coop & Stella,
This is your Uncle Brandon or in Korean, it’s “Byung” (hyu). I’m very sorry I haven’t been able to see you much in your younger years. Unfortunately, there are good reasons why that’s the case, but I hope I don’t lose the chance in getting to you know you as you get older.
Currently, I’m in Korea. Hopefully, I’ll be back in the U.S. more often in the upcoming years, but if I’m not, I’d love to keep up to date with you guys through your dad. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Well, I just want to give you a quick hello and hope to write (& speak to you hopefully) more in the future.
Love,
Brandon
Hey boys,
Before we went out to Korea in 2006, your mom and I were on the last leg of our marriage. I wanted to give it one last try because for many years she complained that living in the United States was too hard on her. I totally understood and since my career wasn’t necessarily on the path I had hoped for, I wanted to give it one last try in Korea.
Before we left though, I tried to starve myself to a state of sickness that possibly might let me die (yes, I realize this was a cowardly & weak decision), but inside I knew down deep I wouldn’t die because Read the rest of this entry »
Hi boys,
I’m off to Hawaii for Uncle Derek and Auntie Bonnie’s wedding. I haven’t seen Derek in a long time and will finally have the honor to meet the beautiful Mrs. Wong (don’t know why she’s taking on that name…she should take on a cooler name like “Na”). Anyhoo…
Before I get on the plane though, I just want to say I love you guys. I miss you tons these days. I know you’re busy with school, but as you’ll learn in life, it’s good to take a step back once in a while and smell the roses … well in Korea, maybe go up to Kangwon-do and enjoy some of the clean air or go to Young-duk or Geoje and enjoy the great views. Then again, if you want clean air, maybe Japan might not be a bad option either.
Have a great week boys and I’ll talk to you soon! I know you’re studying really hard. I’m VERY proud of you always.
Kamden – after you said to me “아빠 힘들지마”, I realized after all the times I’ve said “I love you” and you guys just replied “OK” only, I realized you were listening. I think you guys are amazing…miss you lots.
From Dad’s other main blog while in Busan…
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Six letters.
Many combinations.
Possibly the cure to all the world’s problems.
In Korea, this one word makes or breaks peoples’ lives. Without these, many go homeless. With these, many have a roof over their head. For many foreigners or expatriates who date Korean women, it’s our biggest hurdle in getting to know them. However, after we get to know them, our bonds can be tighter than superglue with the Korean women we might love. Read the rest of this entry »
Kamden – you said this to me today, May 15th after trying to tell me earlier that you didn’t want to come to Busan. You told me to not have difficulty and could probably tell from my voice that I’m tired and overworked. I really appreciate it…
It’s amazing how smart you guys are already. I know how caring you are as well. I really am proud of you and you are only 8 years old (or will be in about a month). I’m truly lucky to have you both.
I can’t explain it to you today, but sometimes in life, you have to do things you don’t want to realize what you do want. You also sometimes just need to do what you don’t want because that’s called “unselfishness” or being a “giving person.” I hope you both grow up to be unselfish. At the same time, I hope you also grow up to be at least 50% selfish because you must in this “dog eat dog” world. Your natural desire to to be giving and helpful to people, but to be able to do this, you also have to be selfish so that you can be happy enough yourself to have the ability to be giving and loving as you wish.
Dad bought a motorcycle and I know it’s dangerous. It’s a very fast motorcycle as well, but that’s not why Dad bought it. Unfortunately, Dad’s financial situation isn’t as strong as he wishes and needs to be able to spend less than one would need on a car, for example. Using a motorcycle allows Dad to get around comfortably and quickly without too much expense. However, it’s still more expensive than I had hoped and so Dad is needing to be a little tighter on his budget. Read the rest of this entry »
Boys –
In Dad’s life, two things seem to spark energy (instantly) in my mind. Upbeat music and attractive girls. Actually, there’s a larger one “the thought of making a huge difference in this world,” but that’s for much later when I have time to write about when I have loads of time. For now, these two seem to give instant energy to me for some reason.
This will be my first “Realationship advice” to you both. I call it “Real-ationship” because relationships should be more than just relationships, but should be REAL relationships or what I call “Realationships.”
First off, I want to talk about “attractive girls.” Part of Dad’s thinking is that someone’s going to read this other than you two and I feel the need to defend myself when talking about something so shallow as “attractive girls.” I don’t know why I should because it’s such a natural part of our psyche. However, I must due to the unequal nature of relationships between men and women in society. Read the rest of this entry »
Boys –
I wrote this to my good friends and your Uncles. It took me a close call on your dad’s life to realize this. I hope for your life’s sake that you don’t have to learn through an experience like this. Ideally, you’ll learn this before you hurt yourself like your dad almost severely did.
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To my favorite people in this world –
Long time (for many of you)…my apologies.
Just wanted to write a quick note. I’ve been working like a dog for most of the past 3 years and most recently, every weekend for 4 straight weeks.
A taxi driver almost killed me on the way to helping a teacher a Sunday afternoon. His front bumper was inches away from my head when I went down on my new motorcycle. Read the rest of this entry »
By the way, I don’t always put one person in front of the other. So, I’ll periodically say Kamden and Kade (o.k. Kade?) You guys are equal in my mind and always will be. You are the two most important people in my life even more important that grandma and grandpa who should be #1 to be frank.
I’m writing these thoughts when you’re just a month shy of your 8th birthday. Your dad is hitting his 38th year of life. I’ll always be about 30 years and two weeks older than you when you guys came into my life. June 9th, 2001 was the best day in my life. I will never forget it…
Some things I want for you two is to not have the financial stress I had growing up. I also want to make sure I’m around. Right now, I’m not around as much because I’m trying to build a financial base for you guys when you get a little older. It’s a hard sacrifice because I know at this time, a father or more parenting would be good for you. However, this may be the only time in my life where I can build something special so that you both may have an even better future.
I’d like to take you to the United States later this year to make sure your English is strong enough that you can go (anywhere the 1.8 billion people who use the language) and use this lingua franca and life happily ever after. Your mom disagrees and thinks that you can learn enough in Korea. Unfortunately, she’s wrong in that your accent will be poor and your natural abilities to speak comfortably in English will be weak if you go later in life. I’ve already seen too many people who have problems and honestly don’t command the respect one would have being a native speaker. I’ll do my best to make sure you live & go to school in the U.S. before the age of 9. It must happen… Read the rest of this entry »
Kade…Kamden,
I love you guys more than you know.
I made a mistake though with your mom, however. So, you guys don’t get to grow up in a family with a father around in your first years of life. At the same time, this is not a bad thing and I will always be available for you guys until the day I die. I want you to know that.
The reason I’m writing this blog to you guys is because your English hasn’t bloomed to the point where I can talk to you like I can talk to a peer of mine. Also, you haven’t grown to the maturity it may take to understand some of the stuff I’ll be writing you. However, I ask you to come back here and read this stuff I wrote for you. It’s because it WILL make sense over time. I swear it will.
