To catch the cloud

"Hwajinpo was the best?"

Hwajinpo was a land north of 6.25 years ago. It is the northernmost beach of the East Sea. There were villas of Rhee Syngman, Kim Il Sung and Lee Ki-poong.

We unpacked at a pension on the hill leading into Daejin Port. It was a neat lodging place where we could see the spray of wave while listening to the sound of the waves while lying in bed. Every nook of the room was so neat and wonderful that there was no place out of the touch of the romantic owner. I didn't want to scatter owner's affectionate of pension, so I just put my body in the bed and got out early in the morning.

"No, it was best when I was in the hospital bed," was the conversation I had with my husband on the plane back to New York from a visit to Seoul.

A few days before we came to New York, we was admitted to a private hospital for two days and one night.  My friend, a doctor I haven't seen in a long time, looked up and down at me said, "I think you have a bad kidney and your husband liver also looks bad." Why don't you go for a medical checkup?" We was admitted to a private hospital where friend knows well.

I threw my tired body on a white sheet bed in a simple hospital room. My husband was also admitted to the next hospital room. The separation of my husband and my room made my feel as if he were not only far but also close. I can see him if I want to, or I don't have to see him, if I don't want to!

Life in New York didn't go into the mountains, but we live like monks. However, we were tired because we suddenly met many people every day under the pretext of my husband's private exhibition in Seoul. Before looking up at the empty ceiling, I was touching a soft white sheet and fell asleep.

Did Joon-sik, the main character who suffered from hard work all his life in the novel 'To Catch the Cloud' written by Joo Yoseop, lie down on a white hospital sheet and felt same as mine? In the early 20th century, he came to the United States of opportunity land, had been doing all hard works and being penniless and died in a hospital.

The nurse asked me to lie on the side to do my stomach and colon endoscopy. It was uncomfortable to have a large hospital gown lying on the side, but a sleep mask was put on at the same time that I thought I would soon be sleeping. I went into a state of nothing. If every day I planned did not work correctly, my daily life was uncomfortable. I can't think of my daily routine anymore in my head anymore. Wouldn't it be okay if die like this without perception! It was the most comfortable moment in my life.

I've cleaned up the garbage built up in a large intestine for decades and removed three, though small tumors. I called my friend on the way to the airport. "Thanks. I feel like going to fly with a lighter body and mind. I'll come again.” She said, “Why don't you buy a small house in Seoul? Isn't it good to be together in old age?" I answered, "Why can't I buy a big house?"

We returned to daily routine of catching clouds and broke up talking about the big and the small.