Crooked Pine Trees Protect Family Gravesites.by 주아나

For the first time in a long while, I had lunch with my family at my parent’s house.

My dad started talking about the old days while having a little drink with lunch.

“You know Sang-gu, right? That man didn’t look anything special, but he was a great man because he restored the family fortune. There is a saying, ‘Crooked pine trees protect family gravesites.’ That exactly describes Sang-gu.”

Then my sister asked my dad, “Then Dad, am I also a crooked pine tree?”

My dad just chuckled and pretended to be indifferent, but my sister continued to question him until he answered.

It was understandable why she would ask that question.

My sister went through a severe rebellious stage of her adolescence for four years after she started middle school.

She did not care about her studies at all, but enjoyed hanging out with her friends until late at night.

My dad had been angry and said that she was becoming just like her aunt - Dad’s second younger sister.

Our aunt had been a party girl by nature and, on top of that, she had been lazy, so my dad used to whip her a lot.

He saw her in my sister, and so became even more angry.

My dad whipped her many times.

For that reason, my sister also did not like my dad, so she could not become attached to her home.

Naturally, she was compared with me.

I spent my school days without trouble, without youthful rebellion, and was also accepted into the university which my parents wanted me to attend, so I was acknowledged to some degree.

My parents had expectations for me, but regarding my sister, they were just thankful that she stayed with the family.

My sister came back to her senses when she was a junior in high school.

From that point on, she became interested in studying and kept up with her school work quite well.

She started working a part-time job at night and began to save money.

After graduating and drinking the bitter cup of career life several times, she finally got hired by a bank.

In her career life, she takes care of my parents with more tenacity than me.

If there is good meat or seafood, she sends it right away through a courier. She also sometimes gives our parents her credit card, telling them to buy clothes, since she does not want other people to think that they do not have anything.

For my parents’ birthdays, she calls me two weeks beforehand and harrasses me, asking what we are going to do.

Even now, though she is over 30, she acts cute like a kid, worrying that my parents will get old soon.

When my sister, who is like that, asked if she was the crooked pine tree, my dad still did not answer.

I took my dad’s silence to mean that she is the pine tree that protects our family’s gravesites, but not a crooked one, because now she is the most beautiful pine tree that protects my parents.

My sister was grumbling, saying that Dad had not say anything.

People plant many trees in order to protect family gravesites.

However, trees with their own pride--even a little bit--are all sold to the city.

The one that is left is the pine tree that has a crooked back and is dry and shabby.

However, that pine tree has become a being that is indispensable now.

If you think that you are not a special life,

I hope that there is a family gravesite that no one could protect but you.

The gravesite could be a family, school, church, or the Lord.

From the position of the gravesite, the pine tree that protects it is the most beautiful and lovely pine tree.