In front of a memorial service table

"Mother, I think I should do memorial service." "If you do that, how good it would be! My mother-in-law's voice suddenly rose with joy.

Seven years ago, at a young age, my older brother-in-law's wife suddenly died. Her husband remarried a few months ago. I couldn't ask the new sister-in-law to perform ancestral rites. In the meantime the 1.5-year-old youngest sister-in-law living next to parents-in-law has had a hard time holding ancestral rites for grandmother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-law.

"It's hard, but just do only your father-in-law's memorial service on New Year's Day and Chuseok. You'll do only while I'm alive." "I won't be handed it over to my children." "Yes, thank you." "I am OK. If you do not do it after I die.”

I found out how to prepare memorial rites through the Internet. If I do formal memorial rites like on the Internet, I think I'm going to give up after a few rounds. I decided to do with foods that my father-in-law used to like, as my mother-in-law told me.

My father-in-law has worked in the U.S. military since the Korean War, based on his English skills learned in his youth. He lived in the U.S. Army compound and came home once a week. He worked abroad for many years from Vietnam, New Zealand, Miami, Australia and New Guinea. In the early 70s, he immigrated to Los Angeles and worked in Alaska until he retired.

Due to the long foreign life, he didn't enjoy Korean food so much. He did not eat any spicy food or salted fish. He enjoyed McDonald's coffee and red wine, and when he didn't cook himself, he ate simple frozen food made in the supermarket. But He loves Korean pear very much.

On the morning of his first memorial service, my husband stopped by McDonald's to buy black coffee. A glass of wine and black coffee put it on the table. I put pears and frozen food that I had prepared the day before. It's the perfect Seoul New York fusion table.

I thought I would prepare a simple memorial service and sit around with my children to remember their grandfather. "What about vegetables, jeon and fish?" my husband said to me, who put the dumpling soup that I made my best. He complained that didn't prepare traditional Korean food, which he wanted to eat. Somehow he was so happy when I offered to bring the memorial ceremony from LA.

"Let's do with simple meal that father's favorite food." "But this is too much.” "Then I will prepare the food properly and you do memorial service formally too. I can't believe you're just wanted to eat traditional Korean foods without ritual fat.”

"Shh, be quiet. We can't fight in front of the memorial table. My father's soul come and will go without eating it.”