Let's Study the Moon Together > 내 아이에게 쓰는 편지

Dear Little Duck and Little Turtle,

Today I was looking up at the moon, a glowing boomerang shape hanging low on the horizon, floating over the apartment buildings cluttering Seoul--that's where I am staying right now so I can be as close as possible to you. The moon has that shape because it is now a few days past 설날. As another week goes by, it will fatten up, eventually becoming a perfect circle.

Thinking about the moon's shape, my mind wandered back to a night far away and long ago, maybe 46 or 47 years ago. I was a little boy walking at night with my own father, your American Grandfather. Little Duck, probably I was about the same age as you are now, and I was holding my father's hand while we walked under the stars.

Your grandfather was a very smart person, and much wiser than I ever will be. In fact, he was so smart, that when he was young, he worked with NASA to help send the first human beings to the moon on rockets, rising up from the Earth on columns of fire. So of course he knew almost everything there is to know about stars and galaxies and supernovae and planets and moons and artificial satellites and rockets and jet engines and all the things children dream of when they are lying on the grass on a hot summer night, gazing up into the dark sky in the countryside.

While we were walking together, he said to me, "You already know, from our walks together at night, sometimes we notice the moon has grown each day, but sometimes it is shrinking, right?" And I nodded. Then he asked me, "OK, so looking at the moon right now, how can you know whether it is growing or shrinking?" I'm not very smart, so I told him I didn't know. Then he taught me a trick, which I still remember. He said, "Son, look at the shape of the moon, and imagine adding a line to it so it looks like either the little letter 'p', or the little letter 'd'. If it makes a 'p', remember that's for the word 'prime' or 'prince', meaning its first stage. That means it's growing. Otherwise it's shrinking."

All my life, I never forgot that, and when I see the moon, it makes me think of him. And of course now, it makes me think of the two of you too. It makes me wish I could be walking with you, and teaching you the things that he taught me, and all the things I learned on my own as well.

Well, he is gone now, but he lives on in me, and in you too. Even though we can't be together right now, we can still look up at the same moon and stars at night. And you are both very smart children, so maybe you will find out these funny things all on your own. And that will make me and him very happy!

When I looked up tonight, I saw the letter 'p'. Soon we will reach 대보름, the first full moon after Seollal. On that night, I will look up and imagine the world being full and complete again, neither waxing nor waning, only smiling and laughing.

Good night, and sweet dreams, from your American Dad.