All of us have our share of stories, sadness, struggles and hopefully successes. Last night I was watching one of the Korean series that I have been enjoying and it highlighted the story of a gentleman with dementia who had been abandoned by his family. The scene opens with this older gentleman repeatedly asking the staff at the facility where he was living to take him to this particular restaurant. The next scene is him eating his favorite noodle dish, along with one of the cooks from his facility. We don’t know his story- yet. We later learn that he was told to wait for his son at this particular restaurant.
He waited and waited and the son never showed up. We are told, as he is told, by a ‘good for nothing selfish person’ that he had been abandoned as his son did not want to take care of him. This younger character who told him this, had also been abandoned by his own mother; yet he was now mooching off of his sister who felt obliged to pay his debts and living expenses. Fast forward to the closing scene which is the soliloquy of this older gentleman, who has now passed away, wishing a good life to his son and saying he understood and did not blame his son for leaving him. This may sound a little complicated ( as I don’t speak Korean I am therefore relying on the subtitles) yet the message here was clear.
As a parent he was prepared to give up his life for his children and he not only forgave them but he wanted the son to forgive himself as well. While this fellow may have had advanced dementia his love and best hopes for his family was never forgotten.
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