For the Deseret News, 2008
The tough thing about Christmas for orphan children is attending school, usually with children who have families. Captivated by the stories of schoolchildren about Santa Claus and gifts, SoonHee grew up thinking that she was naughty. She tried so hard to do what was right, but Santa Claus left her only an orange each Christmas.
SoonHee lived a truly unique life. By age 13 she had experienced more than most people do in a lifetime, most of it not good. Her mother died a few months after her birth in South Korea. Unable to deal with the baby and her three older siblings, SoonHee's father turned to alcohol and abandoned the children. SoonHee's older sister tried to find surrogate mothers to nurse the baby, but in desperation resorted to feeding her a mixture of flour and water.
Luckily, SoonHee's sister encountered Father Ben, an American Catholic priest trying to establish an orphanage in Korea. Father Ben supplied her with life-preserving infant formula. By age 2, SoonHee was at Father Ben's orphanage full time. Around age 7, SoonHee's father returned, and she lived with him and various foster families for several years.
A family in the United States would have likely adopted SoonHee as a baby, but her father refused to relinquish his parental rights. At age 11, SoonHee found herself back at Father Ben's orphanage.
Life in the orphanage was sparse, but it was definitely better (and safer) than living with foster families. There had been a couple of incidents at the orphanage, but it was a good place. Once SoonHee had received a spanking from a nun for eating toothpaste. Another time, SoonHee and another girl sneaked into Father Ben's kitchen, stole some peanut butter and ate it in the dark under a pew in the chapel. Feeling guilty, they confessed to Father Ben but were surprised to find that he already knew. He simply smiled and said, "I'm glad I could share with you."
While living in foster homes for the last several years, SoonHee hadn't even received an orange from Santa Claus on Christmas. As December rolled around at the orphanage, she hoped she had been good enough to at least receive an orange from Santa Claus this year. She had tried so hard, perhaps harder than ever before.
Things had been pretty tough at the foster homes — a lot of bad things had happened to her there — but she tried not to let those experiences dampen her spirit. Being back at the orphanage and seeing Father Ben so happy had given her hope. SoonHee thought Christmas would never arrive. In the meantime, she tried so hard to be good.
Eventually the big day was finally at hand. Christmas morning she jumped up from the makeshift bed on the floor and rushed to the place she had received an orange those earlier years at the orphanage. There was the sweet, glossy orange. She was elated! But she was also confused. What is that? she thought as she looked at an oblong, shiny, orange-colored package with English letters on it. Perhaps Santa had noticed.
Carefully SoonHee unwrapped the package exposing a brown substance — kind of like a candy that she had seen other children at school eat. She tasted just a small bit of it, ever so cautiously. The chocolaty flavor was unlike anything she had ever tasted. The sweet, crisp wafer middle made her eyes sparkle as she crunched it. She couldn't believe her good fortune!
Over the next several days she tried her best to make the bar last as long as possible, nibbling just a small piece of it at a time, ever so carefully unwrapping and then rewrapping the sweet chocolate prize. Santa had indeed noticed!
Epilogue: The chocolate Christmas is a true story. SoonHee's father relinquished his rights in 1986, and a family in Roosevelt, Utah, adopted her at age 13. SoonHee remembers Father Ben and the chocolate Christmas fondly. It taught her that even small and simple things do make a significant difference, if only in the heart of a child.
After coming to America, SoonHee also rediscovered the familiar chocolate wafer candy bar in the orange package she had received at the orphanage: the Kit Kat candy bar. Santa Claus now brings her a Kit Kat bar every year.
Father Ben died March 26, 2001, after serving the people of Korea for more than 30 years. One child placed for adoption in the United States through Father Ben's efforts visited him in 2000 and reminded him of a stone monument on Tokchok Island in a small park filled with ancient juniper trees commemorating his work there. Father Ben simply scoffed in his humble way, "They could have done something else with that money."
SoonHee is my dear, sweet friend. Thank you for sharing her story.
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