Reminiscing

By Hyuna Steward

After 30 years of family medical practice in Monroe, Michigan, Dr. Hyuna Steward’s husband, Tom, revived the tradition of traveling to their sister country, Canada. During the last ten years, they rode the Via Rail train from Windsor to London, Toronto, and Montreal. These were enchanting junctures of their lives—walking Montreal’s cobblestone streets, and attending theatre performances in Toronto and London, Ontario.

Dr. Steward earned a third-degree black belt in Choi Kwang Do at Monroe Martial Arts in Monroe, Michigan. Eight years of five-days-a-week practice prevailed upon receiving her black belt. She even broke her left fifth finger during her karate practice. Hyuna learned perseverance, integrity, and humility while she trained to be a martial artist.

Hyuna and Tom have been married for 35 years and have four sons; they were closely involved in their sons’ education, sports, and recreational pursuits. On July fourth weekends, they would drive to Niagara Falls to watch the spectacular fall view. Two of their sons were married in 2017. In May 2019, Tom and Hyuna entered into grandparenthood. They look forward to seeing their grandson, Landon James, laughing and scampering around the house.

It has been Hyuna’s passion to write a book to express her gratitude and to remember these momentous events in her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664239234

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 Hyuna Steward.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

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views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,

copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission

of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3924-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3925-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3923-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021913354

WestBow Press rev. date: 07/22/2021

CONTENTS

Introduction

2011—2017

1   Breaking the Board

2   Second-Degree Black Belt

3   Lost Earring

2018

1   Third-Degree Black Belt

2   Desperation

3   Toronto, I Feel Like I Belong

4   Meeting an Old Friend, Kay

5   Sharapova versus Garcia Tennis Match

6   EPIC: Getting to Know It More

7   Mother

2019

January

1   EPIC: Starting to See the Light

2   Frigid Weather, Freedom From EPIC

February

1   Valentine’s Day Card

2   Matthew, Our Third Son

March

1   Visiting Mom with Diamond Earrings

2   Thursday after Work

3   Taking Up the Gifts at St. Mary’s Church

4   Movies

5   Hairdressing

6   Thinking of You

7   My Mega Bot

8   Windy February

9   Chewing Gum

10   VIA Rail Train, Snow in March

11   Riding a Taxi on a Snowy Day in London, Ontario

12 Delicious Breakfast

April

1   Hidden Lake Garden

2   Before Mass

3   Purdy’s Ice-Cream Bar

4   Playing Cards with Tom on VIA Rail on Our Way to Toronto

5   VIA Rail Train Ride from Toronto to Windsor in April

6   Coco

7   Orange Jam Sandwich

8   Carole King in Toronto

9   Laundry

10   Eggplant with Bean Curd Dish at Windsor

11   Raining in London Ontario, Canada

12   Coffee

May

1   On Our Way to See Our First Grandchild

2   Trucks

3   Misty Mountain Hills

4   Highway

5   Living the Dream with Tom in Montreal

June

1   VIA Rail Train 5:50 a.m. toward London, Ontario

2   Thunder

3   Toronto Layover

4   Almost There

5   Dinner at Kiku

6   First Day of Summer in London, Ontario

7   Tom and I in London, Ontario

8   Father

9   Bob Evans Before Going to the Hidden Lake Garden

July

1   Tunnel to Canada

2   VIA Rail to Toronto

3   Tom and Me, Canada Vacation

4   Our Favorite City: Toronto

5   Tom

6   Tom in Toronto

August

1   Morning Aerobics

2   Fog on I-80 in Pennsylvania

3   Swimming on Saturdays

4   Colorful Hidden Lake Garden, May 2019

5   Painting the Sky

6   VIA Rail Sunrise

September

1   Montreal on Labor Day Weekend

2   Tom in Montreal

3   VIA Rail: Changing Trains in Toronto from Montreal

4   Topspin

5   Bianca Andreescu versus Elise Mertens

6   Kavi Humbad, Our Grandniece

7   Fly in St. Mary’s Church

October

1   Rain at Windsor

2   Departure Morning from Toronto

3   Visiting Egg Smart

4   Koreatown in Toronto

November

1   Tarzan

2   Detroit River

3   Hidden Lake Garden in November

4   Tom’s Coat

5   Black Sunglasses

6   Caramel Apple

December

1   Train from Toronto to Windsor

2   Jump Rope

2020

January

1   Shower

2   Snow in Toronto

3   Our Marriage

March

1   Spinach

August

1   Jet Express

2   Dawn

3   A Placard for Dad

September

1   Italian Entrée

2   Pecan Pie

October

1   Golden Hill

November

1   Pneumonia

2021

January

1   H-Cuisine

2   Making Pizza with Mrs. Pezzino

February

1   Acknowledgments

2   Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

Hyuna, you told me that you wanted to write a book when we just got married, my husband, Tom, said the other day.

After thirty-five years of marriage, I had forgotten that statement, but I had toyed with the idea of writing since childhood. When I was growing up, my father always said, Tigers leave their skin when they die, and human beings leave books when they die to leave their legacy.

My mother embraced this motto to her heart, producing eight books after retiring from being an ob-gyn physician. At age eighty-six, she is writing her ninth book. My father, ninety-two, wrote his third book in March 2020. No wonder I am feeling a pinch of pressure to write my book. Notwithstanding, writing has been part of my life ever since I can remember.

I have written my diaries since elementary school. At age twelve, I flew to the United States from South Korea with my two younger brothers, ages six and three, to stay with my parents. They had gone to America one year prior to pursue their medical and political science careers. During that transition I lost my diaries; nevertheless, I still have my journals from my medical school years. When I started my family practice clinic in 1986, I kept diaries of my busy life as a full-time physician, raising four sons with my husband, and taking care of our office staff as well as our babysitters and cooks.

During our children’s elementary school years, Tom and I hardly saw each other—let alone had a meaningful conversation. Tom was taking two boys to tennis lessons, and I stayed home with the other two to help them with their homework. Amid this hectic schedule, I wrote small letters and memos to Tom every day, disclosing my thoughts. It was a pragmatic way to communicate my love