Family Photos Young Kim

Nonchalantly browsing through family photos, I hastily flip through the pages when I suddenly get a paper cut. Blood slowly flows from a small slit on my finger and onto the plastic film. The blood lands on a particularly bland picture--but it instantly catches my attention. Humbly dressed, a younger version of my father stands with a stern look on his face while my mother grasps onto his hand, half-smiling.

Looking at the picture, I can't help but wonder: Why did they choose to make so many sacrifices to come to America and decide to start a family here? I jump from my couch with the album to find my mother. Holding up the picture, I ask the question.

In response, my mother’s eyes well with tears. With a quivering voice, she sits down, takes a long look at the picture, and asks me if I am content with my life. She explains that she and my father had made the tough decisions to leave their family, home and lives back in South Korea all so that they could raise a stable family in America. With an unstable government, ambiguous education systems and a bad economy, life was not stable in Korea. Needing a quick decision, my parents took a leap of faith, hoping to make it in the “Land of Opportunities”.

Leaving all of their...