Emily Kwon

Ms. Storer
English 3H Block 1
March 26, 2020
My Grandmother
Sunjoo Pyeon carries her brown rosary. It is a typical rosary made of a knotted nylon
thread yet remains unique due to the affection it has received over the years. Adjusted to her two
hands after years of daily use, it has become a part of her that never fails to comfort her in her
prayers. When she converted into Catholicism soon after her marriage, her rosary became the
visible proof of her unwavering faith. She finds the purpose of her whole being in the long strand
of knots that are tenderly caressed with her fingers. The mysteries of life and death all lie there,
keeping their eternal silence for the faithful believer.
She carries her red dotted pouch. Just a little bigger than the size of her hand, the pouch
always contains different kinds of candies for her four grandchildren. Butterscotch, vanilla,
chocolate, and coffee flavors are mixed in the pouch of parental love. On the rare occasions in
which her grandchildren come to visit, the pouch is fat with newly bought candies. 1She smiles
with bittersweet understanding as her grandchildren scramble for each of their favorite flavors.
The pouch carries her desire of being close to her family.
She carries her gold wedding ring. Dotted with diamonds across the band, the ring has
been on her finger for the past forty-five years of her marriage. It is her habit to turn the ring with
her other hand whenever she thinks of her husband. He too wears the same ring, silently
celebrating their lives spent together with struggles and love. The ring reminds her not only of
the glories but also of the ups and downs of life she has been through – sad farewells, personal
defeats, and close deaths that only the bearer of the ring remembers.
She carries her guilt. Her mother, well over eighty-years-old, stays at a senior center. 2A
sad disease called vascular dementia took away many of her memories, but Sunjoo is grateful
that her mother still remembers her three daughter’s names. As an eldest child, Sunjoo is the
most trusted and most sought for. It has been a few years since she first accepted the loneliness
of the weekly two-hour drives. She can afford the senior care facility’s monthly fees with her
five other siblings, but the fact that she cannot take care of her own parent at her own house
burdens her heart.
She carries her regret. She was a prominent piano player, fighting for first place in
college. She was promised success after graduation – recitals, concours, and contests. However,
due to her early marriage and a baby that came into her life right after, she had to give up her
dream. She listens to the piano pieces of young musicians, imagining the glories she would have
received if not for her marriage.
She carries her longings. Her only daughter and two grandchildren are halfway across the
globe, separated by sixteen hours of time difference and twelve hours of flight time. She is
reluctant to call them on a daily basis because she does not want to distract them from their
work. Will I be a burden to them? Do they miss me the same way I miss them?
Yet she knows that all she can do is pray. 3Her rosary is the spiritual guide as she lets go
of her troubles in the presence of the one above. Bitter realities of family life that she cannot
change and bitter thoughts of life that she could not live are momentarily forgotten. She will
continue to pray for the people around her as long as she lives. For what she carries will stay
with her forever, and what stays with her will be carried forever.

Revision
Changes Intended effect
1 I added my grandma’s feelings when she Describing the emotional reaction that the
sees how her pouch is bringing her closer pouch brings of my grandmother will make
to her grandchildren that she rarely meets. the memoir more engaging for the readers.
2 I added details of my great-grandma’s A more detailed description of my
situation and explained why my grandma grandmother’s situation will give the readers
took the greatest responsibility out of her a deeper insight to her life and serve as a
six siblings to take care of her mother. better reason as to why guilt is one of the
things she carries.
3 I expanded the resolution by describing in All five items that my grandmother carries
greater detail how the rosary, one of the are each associated with her troubles. The
things my grandmother carries with love, is pouch, the wedding ring, guilt, and longings
the means by which her worries are freed. are related to her former and current family
issues, either directly representing or silently
reminding of the troubles. Her regret
connects to her personal matters as it
symbolizes a small portion of her heart that
cannot let go of her past. By stating how the
rosary is the ultimate belonging that resolves
the conflicts associated with the other items,
the relationship among the things my
grandmother carries is explained.