The Power of "I'm Sorry"

Our family is full of laughter: my father is quite the humorist, my mother is the steady anchor of our home and a friend to us all, and I am the one responsible for the biggest laughs. Though we are a close and harmonious family, we had one unresolved challenge: communication—specifically between my father and me.

Raised in a military household, my father has very strong convictions and struggles with emotional vulnerability. He rarely, if ever, lets the words “I’m sorry” cross his lips. I, too, am stubborn and quick-tempered, but perhaps due to my mother’s influence, I love to talk and enjoy sharing warm sentiments, even if it feels a bit cringey at times. Because of these differences, I often avoided being alone with with my father. While I would take my mother’s advice to heart, found it difficult to do the same with my father’s stern lectures. Whenever we spoke, my mother inevitably stepped in as the mediator. Despite her constant efforts, by the time I turned twenty, there still seemed to be no sign that of improvement in the way my father and I communicated.

One day, while talking with my father, something he said deeply hurt my feelings. The emotional rift between us felt impossible to bridge. Deep down, I knew that just one sincere apology from him would have softened my heart. My mother tried to persuade him to use the “Language of Mother’s Love” and simply apologize, but he remained unyielding, insisting he just couldn’t bring himself to say it. Finally, my mother asked him to just repeat after her. After a long hesitation, my father quietly followed her lead.

“Won-u, I’m sorry.”

At those words, tears suddenly burst from my eyes. Even though he was only repeating what my mother told him to say, the bitterness that had been knotted in my heart melted away like spring snow. Through the language of love spoken from a mother’s heart, warmth and laughter were restored to our home.

Though they are simple words, “I’m sorry” has the immense power to thaw even the coldest, frozen heart. I, too, resolve to practice the language of love with Mother’s heart, doing my part to wrap the world in warmth.