Like Glue

by Samuel Byung-Deuk Lee

“Mothers are like glue, even when you can’t see them they’re holding the family together”, a quote by Susan Gale [1]. 24 hours, 7 days a week, 12 months a year. They have the toughest job in the world. My mother is the number one person I look up to. To this day, I am completely complexed by how my mother does it all. How did she survive? How did she deal the little devils, my sister and me? How did she manage kids that once cried so much in a buffet that she was kicked out?

Like glue, even though my mother is small, but even a little is strong. From the day my sister and I were born, my mother did everything she could to take care of us. Through thick and thin, lows and highs, ups and downs, she sweat, she bled, and she scaled every mountain and every ravine trying to give us a better life. My parents are the first generation here in America for our family. Though I was young, I remember everything like it was yesterday. Our family lived on the verge of poverty. Waitress, maid, tailor. My mom worked several jobs, just to feed my sister and me. I remember a day I spent with my mom while she worked. I was hungry, so with most if not all the money she had, she bought me my only meal of the day, small fries and a pint of milk from Burger King. We lived in a single room apartment. The place was rundown, walls cracked, floors stained. The only form of furniture was a single mattress, just the mattress, not a bed frame. My dad, sister, and I slept sharing the mattress, while my mom slept on the floor. Fast-forward a few years, I’m in middle school. I barely see my mom, I wake up after she leaves, and some nights she comes back after I’m already asleep. High-school, I spent most days, going to school, working, and then working with my mom at our dry cleaners. Through family struggles, she always remained strong, an unwavering mountain.

Like glue, she sticks to what she believes in. She commits to what she says and she acts accordingly. When her mind is set, her heart is set. Though she is strong, she is not fierce. She cannot force herself to hurt others. My mom reminds me of Ferdinand the Bull. She can be ferocious, but she only has the kindest intentions in mind, unless I get in trouble, then the skies turn red, lightening splits the skies, and the motherly wrath follows shortly. Once in her youth, she wanted to learn a language, so she learned Japanese and German on her own. She even taught herself piano and guitar in the little spare time she had at church. Furthermore, she believes in trying her best in all of her work. She relentlessly reminds me: there are no shortcuts in life, give it my best, there is no such thing as overachieving, always be open to new ideas and people, don’t fear what is strange, embrace it, strive to always go forward, but do not forget from where you came, the harder the journey is, the more accomplished you feel, and lastly, do onto others that you would want to be done onto you. These aphorisms are cliche, but my mom does not only spout them to me, she exhibits each of these everyday. Her beliefs are an unwavering mountain.

Like glue, she dearly holds onto to the things she loves. She is tough, but she is tender. Through hard work, she made it into one of the top colleges in Korea, but she gave it up for family. In all things, she puts others before herself. The number one aspect people love about my mom is her sunny smile. The yelp reviews of the dry cleaners we have owned the past 12 years say that my mom loves to “please her customers”, “[her] friendliness and professionalism is off the charts”, and “she runs out from the back just to greet me with a smile”. She simply emanates her love for people and her love for her work. Her smile is as contagious as a cold and as pleasant as perfume. Even people that live an hour away from our cleaners come just for the conversation with my mom. Through her amazing affection, we have made many friends and have been very fortunate. To becoming family friends with our landowner to knowing some of the Broncos players, my mother’s kindness and hard work resulted in our fortunate situation we are now. A house, a dry cleaners, my sister graduating from graduate school at Yale, and now I am attending college. All because of her mountainous love.

Mothers are amazing, beyond my comprehension. I can not thank my mom enough for all she has done, her sacrifice, her strength, her sincerity, and her love. If not for my mother, I would not be here. Past the fact that of course I would not have been born, I would not be standing here in this very classroom with a chance at a career, a chance to discover who I am and what I want to do, and a chance to make a future for my own family. Rock by rock, layer by layer, I will do everything to become like the unwavering mountain she is to me. Everything she’s done for me is forever stuck with me, stuck like glue.

[1] Klein, Allen. Mom’s the Word: The Wit, Wisdom and Wonder of Motherhood. N.p.: Viva Editions,