A truck traveling over the speed limit as it came down a hill tried to brake and swerved into the opposite lane, where Heung Jin was driving. Two of his best friends were in the car with him at the time. Heung Jin cut the wheel to the right so the driver’s side took most of the impact from the truck. By doing so, he saved the lives of his two friends. I went to the place near our home where the accident had occurred, and the black tire marks veering off to the right were still visible.

       Heung Jin finally went to the heavenly world in the early morning of January 2. He had turned seventeen just a month before. Words cannot describe my wife’s sorrow when she had to send a child she had raised with love to the heavenly world before her. She could not cry, however. In fact, it was important that she not shed any tears. We are people who know the world of the eternal spirit. A person’s spirit does not disappear like so much dust, just because the physical life is lost. The soul ascends to the world of spirit. As parents, the pain of knowing that we would never be able to see or touch our beloved child in this world was almost unbearable. My wife could not cry; she could only lovingly put her hands on the hearse that carried Heung Jin’s body.

       Shortly before the accident, Heung Jin had been betrothed to Hoon Sook Pak, who was studying ballet. I had to speak to Hoon Sook about his departure from this world and what she wanted to do.

       I told her I knew it wouldn’t be easy or fair to her parents if she chose to live alone. I told her it was best to forget the betrothal had ever happened.

       Hoon Sook was adamant, however. “I am aware of the existence of the spirit world,” she said. “Please let me spend my life with Heung Jin.”