As the youngest at home, I have rarely worked hard nor did something difficult. Even on my parents’ birthdays, my elder sister took the lead in preparing birthday food and gifts, so I didn’t have anything to do. This year, too, I didn’t prepare anything for my mom’s upcoming birthday. Then suddenly, I remembered that my sister had gone abroad. Since my mother said, “I want to eat the seaweed soup that my daughter cooked,” I was worried about cooking seaweed soup by myself, but I decided to give it a try.
Soon I’ll turn 20, but what I can cook is only ramen (instant noodle). For me, making seaweed soup was a challenging mission. I searched for recipes on the Internet and researched them day and night, but my worries only grew: ‘Can I do a good job?’ My mom’s birthday came in no time. When I was lying down to sleep late at night, I got a phone call. It was my sister.
“Hello?”
“Do you know how to cook seaweed soup?”
Abruptly, she asked me that. She seemed to worry if I could prepare for my mother’s birthday properly. She taught me how to cook seaweed soup in detail for over an hour. She hung up after checking several times to make sure I understood the recipe.
The next morning, I started to cook seaweed soup. It wasn’t easy, but after struggling for two hours with the recipe that my sister taught me, I finally made the tuna seaweed soup. My mother complimented the food, putting behind my clumsiness.
I was about to go to bed with the feeling of pride since I prepared for mom’s birthday with my hand, but then I got a text message from my sister.
“Did you cook seaweed soup well?”
With a smile of satisfaction, I conveyed the good news to my sister, “Fortunately I cooked well.” My sister took care of our parents’ birthday even though she was in a foreign country. I could feel her care towards our parents. Once again, I thought that she is great, but on the other hand, I thought, ‘I’m still lacking a lot.’ Wherever I am, I too should have concern for my parents like my sister.