Gratitude Letter

Not sure why I'm writing this in English, but my default thinking & writing mode is in English, so here it is...

Two songs remind me of Mr. Wu, who taught me when I was in the Korean school system. The first one is the Beatles' song, Blackbird. In an interview, Paul McCartney says that he wrote the song to wish freedom for a black girl in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. The song goes, "Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life. You were only waiting for this moment to arise."

The second song is Harry Styles' Matilda. I once was a Matilda, and Mr. Wu was my Miss Honey. He was so kind to every child in the classroom, and you can tell everyone feels safe and playful around him. He had this infectious, crisp, loud belly laugh, and everywhere he went, he always had cigarette smoke following him around. He was a heavy smoker and drinker, but I say that with my utmost affection. He was a good man.

Mr. Wu once risked his career to support my academic success.

https://youtube.com/shorts/rSeDnIQaulE?si=6GX_3DSX5DBP14uC

I'm not going to lay out the details here, but it is not an exaggeration to say that I am where I am today because of his generous and courageous support. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that a 40-something-year-old teacher helped out a 9-year-old girl, potentially at the expense of his job and career. And then his son became a teacher in the same school, and he also ended up helping me and standing up for me. Mr. Wu Jr. was also a kind man. I was helped by this family so much.

I miss his kindness so much. I can only dream of becoming an adult half as kind as Mr Wu. There's something so punk rock about being kind to others while protecting your own inner kindness from this harsh, relentless world. Mr Wu taught me that punk rock kind of kindness.

I still sometimes think about Mr Wu, especially during my commute. It weighs heavily on me that we don't have a picture together, but his infectious belly laughs will forever stay with me. I hope heaven offers him an infinite amount of cigarettes and beers. When it’s time for me to join in the heaven, maybe we can smoke a cigarette or two.