My Funny Family
When Andrew and I first started dating, he was really confused. I would tell him, “Oh yeah I’m going to visit my Uncle Joo in Hamilton.” Or – “I just called Uncle Choe and Uncle Robert in California.” Or – “My Uncle Lee from Korea is visiting us this summer.” Every time he asked how they were related to me, I’d tell him they were my dad’s friends so you can understand his confusion. I think he's just given up with me now and assumes that everyone I meet is instantly part of my family...in ways this is true.
Dad grew up as an orphan…long story but a great one so if you ever have the time just ask and he’ll tell you things that you’d think came out of a movie. But he always wanted a family to call his own because he had always been treated with less respect just because of the fact that he was living with no parents. Family is a huge thing in Korea, especially in regards to the respect you are given.
So along the way, dad’s family became his closest friends around him or the other boys from the boy’s home he grew up in. These are people he wanted to bring into his family because he understood the loneliness of not having family. Other “family” members are people who’ve adopted us into their families or people who have just been true friends whether for a few weeks or years on end.
I’ve grown up with this huge group of people, many in Toronto, many scattered across the globe. In addition to this, my parents would have all the families from our church, who had no family here in Toronto, over at our house for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and Easter to make sure that they didn’t spend the holidays alone and so that they knew that they too were loved and part of our family. We understood because we had no blood-relations in Toronto for a while too.
It’s now a part of me. I know that this all stems out of God’s love and that we are one family, but really, I can truly say that we Kang’s take this literally. When mom passed away, we didn’t think we’d do a Thanksgiving dinner for everyone, but the thought of not doing it seemed so wrong that Young (an aunt) and I made the Turkey dinner that year and have continued since.
I have grandparents (who are Caucasian by the way)...so many uncles and aunties (also a mix of nations) I can’t even keep track…big brothers, big sisters, and little ones too every skin colour under the sun . I am so very blessed to have them in my life and I can not imagine life another way. Isn’t this the way God intended us to live anyway? In love.
So now I’ll become part of Andrew’s collective family too…literally blood relatives…which adds another 80 people to the list (and that’s just in Toronto alone!). I’ll be related to an army of people…
Dad grew up as an orphan…long story but a great one so if you ever have the time just ask and he’ll tell you things that you’d think came out of a movie. But he always wanted a family to call his own because he had always been treated with less respect just because of the fact that he was living with no parents. Family is a huge thing in Korea, especially in regards to the respect you are given.
So along the way, dad’s family became his closest friends around him or the other boys from the boy’s home he grew up in. These are people he wanted to bring into his family because he understood the loneliness of not having family. Other “family” members are people who’ve adopted us into their families or people who have just been true friends whether for a few weeks or years on end.
I’ve grown up with this huge group of people, many in Toronto, many scattered across the globe. In addition to this, my parents would have all the families from our church, who had no family here in Toronto, over at our house for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and Easter to make sure that they didn’t spend the holidays alone and so that they knew that they too were loved and part of our family. We understood because we had no blood-relations in Toronto for a while too.
It’s now a part of me. I know that this all stems out of God’s love and that we are one family, but really, I can truly say that we Kang’s take this literally. When mom passed away, we didn’t think we’d do a Thanksgiving dinner for everyone, but the thought of not doing it seemed so wrong that Young (an aunt) and I made the Turkey dinner that year and have continued since.
I have grandparents (who are Caucasian by the way)...so many uncles and aunties (also a mix of nations) I can’t even keep track…big brothers, big sisters, and little ones too every skin colour under the sun . I am so very blessed to have them in my life and I can not imagine life another way. Isn’t this the way God intended us to live anyway? In love.
So now I’ll become part of Andrew’s collective family too…literally blood relatives…which adds another 80 people to the list (and that’s just in Toronto alone!). I’ll be related to an army of people…
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