※ 아래 스크립트는 발표자의 발표내용을 그대로 표기하였으므로 구어체 표현이 포함되어있고,
일부 문장은 문법적 오류가 포함될수 있는점 참고 부탁드립니다.
If I could go back to any moments from my past, I’ll go back to my 8-year-old days.
Then, I might be able to meet my grandpa again. I really miss him. Well, when I think
of him, a certain scenery and smell comes, first comes, to my mind. A white hallway
in hospital’s ward and a smell of disinfectant lightly spread in there. The place was
like my playground. And, also, it was the place where I confronted his last moments.
My grandpa was a colonel in ROK Army for several decades. He participated in the
Korean War and had received more than 10 medals from the government before he
retired. In his cabinet of study, those medals and badges were very, very various.
And, to my young mind, well… Those medals and badges were brilliant shining and
fascinating for me.
My grandpa suffered of quadriplegic after having a stroke when I was eight years old.
Well…um… At- to my young mind, I-I couldn’t recognize him when he drooled at his
mouth when he was supposed to be the head of my family. So, I start to ignore him.
Well, maybe… Maybe, my grandpa I think grandpa knew that I was regarding, and-
or paying less attention to him. But, sadly enough, he didn’t express his sorrow at all.
One day, when I was about ten years old, I snuck into grandpa’s study and opened
his cabinet secretly, and stole the brightest medal of all. Then I got caught by my dad
just before returning home. I expected to be punished by my grandpa. However, at
that time, he couldn't speak at all. So, he wrote a whiteboard, something on a
whiteboard, with his trembling hands and showed it to me. “It’s all right, sweetheart.”
Grandpa was getting more sick as time went by. Every Sunday morning, I went to the
hospital where grandpa was at. Childishly enough, I greeted him for a brief moment,
and went out right away to play, to play with my younger brother. The boring Sunday
was soon gone when we played hide-and-seek all day long. At that time, I didn’t
recognized anything serious was going on.
My grandpa passed away that autumn. Well, at his last farewell, I shook hands with
my grandpa. And, his hands were very cold as steel. And he gave me a present for me. Well, it was the medal which I had tried to steal once. Also, he left a will note for me. “Be an excellent adult who treats the world without prejudice.”
After he left, I grew up little by little. Then I gained a sense of consideration and an
ability to understand others. I gradually began to realize how ignored I had been to
my grandpa, and how sorrowful and hurt he would have been from my childish acts.
To sum up, I think my growing pain is my grandpa. The weight of the medal was
heavy and is still heavy like the weight of his absence. the will became a guideline of
my life and a belief that should be kept in every aspects of my life. And, I tried to
develop a sense of balance looking at the essence rather than being buried by its mere
looks or appearances, when facing certain issues. Though the loss of my grandpa
remains a regretful and painful moment, I wish to grow day by day, And make my
life more meaningful through his wisdom. Thank you.