Auntie Sends an 안녕

My eemo (maternal aunt) sent me an e-mail this morning by accident. By accident I mean that the intended recipient was not myself, but in fact, my mother. I get the impression that eemo is not so detail oriented.

I quickly skimmed over the Korean characters to make sure there wasn't any terrible or urgent news that should be shared with the rest of the family immediately. My eyes avoided the paragraph about marrying off her kids. As our mother's closest sister, it was no surprise that eemo was whining about her own kids' severe lack of interest in and preparation for marriage; but can anyone tell me why she was discussing my and my sister's interest levels? Now I can't speak for Soeur, but I can certainly scream for myself. BACK IT UP, eemo. Just back it up. If there were ever an award for meddling parents, Koreans would be right up there along with the Jewish moms. Whether I marry or not - why should my decision be such a burden to them? It's as though they believe that true fulfillment in life demands marriage and children.

As I clicked the "send" button forwarding the e-mail to uhmmah, I reminded myself to keep my life in perspective. The "World" section of today's online NY Times has a heartbreaking photo collection of Afghan child brides. At least I am fortunate enough to not have been born into a culture that marries off child brides to old men as a means to end family poverty. One little girl "was given away as payment for a gambling debt." If there's one thing I know from firsthand experience, it's this: if your family's poor, YOU DON'T HAVE MONEY TO SPEND ON GAMBLING. Assholes. No matter how long my eemo and uhmmah carry on about my not preparing for marriage, at least I'm not human currency.