Freespirit1221

"When Life Gives You Tangerines" is a beautiful heart-warming series. It touches different aspects of life and implies beautiful messages in each episode throughout the series. It's also a powerful feminist Kdrama. I can see myself, my mother's and my grandmother's life in this series. I am forever grateful to all the women in previous generations. They have been through a lot of hardships and battles so that we can live in a world that we are today. It's also a beautiful tribute to our grandparents' lives who have sacrificed a lot for a better life for their future generations.

Another thing that makes this series so special is that it's inspired by a real life story. Gwan-sik and Sun-ae's love story really exists in this world. It gives me hope and strengthens my trust in love and humanity. This series also raises my standards higher and encourages me to love myself more and to follow my dreams. It encourages me to stop torturing myself and let go of something that's hurt me so much for a long time, even though I've wanted it and liked it a lot. There is a stage of my life that I need to end so that I can move forwards into a new stage.

I love how the series is divided into 4 volumes, like how a person's life is divided into 4 stages. We all live in a cycle of 4 seasons in our life: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. We experience both great joy and deep sorrow. Everything in our life happens for a reason and each season teaches us a lesson we need to learn. Afterall, we will live, no matter what. This beautiful message really touches my soul, as there were times I really wanted to end my life, but now I'm grateful that I'm still alive and able to breathe.

I really enjoyed the loving daughter-father relationship between Gwan-sik and Geum-myeong. I am not lucky enough to have a great father like Gwan-sik to Geum-myeong. My Asian father chose to be a good son, while my father's mother and siblings hate and look down on my mom for being a little poorer than them. Although my mother has done a lot of things for her in-law's family, they take it for granted and torture her a lot. My father is quite an absent father, and he looks down on me and my mom because we are women. Now I have a very awkward relationship with him. Everytime I watch or read a story with a loving husband and father like in this series, there is a very indescribable feeling rising in my heart.

I think of my grandmother (my mother's mother) a lot while watching this series. At her funeral, when others were praising her about how great she was as a devoted mother and grandmother, I thought her life was so miserable and cried. She was devoted to her husband and children all her life, and she was a mother whose 4 children passed away at young ages. Her husband passed away many years before her too. She never wanted to hold any celebrations when she reached 70, 80, and even 90 or didn't want to receive any rewards. My mom said she blamed herself for the death of her children, thinking that she could live a long lifetime because she stole her children's years of life. I couldn't imagine how much pain she had to endure when she was alive. My heart aches everytime I think of her life, and my mother's life too. My grandmother was a wonderful woman. My mom told me she was the most talented daughter in her family, and so did my mom. Both of them were the breadwinner of their family and also great at a lot of things. My mom expects me to be great too, and I used to feel so stressed comparing myself to them, but at the same time I swore to myself to never live like them. I also told my mom that, like how Geum-myeong told Ae Sun in a scene in episode 4. However, also thanks to that scene, now I think of my grandmother and mother's life in a more positive way, when Ae Sun told Geum-myeong: "You're right. Don't live the life I lived. But you know, I found happiness in my own way. There was sunshine in my life too. I've had so many picture-perfect moments. I just want you to acknowledge that my life was worthwhile too." I'm still trying to break the cycle of generational trauma, but I will never underestimate their lives again.

I can see myself in Geum-myeong in her relationship with her mother. I bicker a lot with my mom. There is a big age gap and generation gap between us, so we have different perspectives about life. There are times we hurt each other with words, but we also have great moments together, and there were times my mom used the whole world to me. My mom also told me she used to bicker a lot with my grandmother too, and she was also considered quite a rebellious daughter when she was young, like me. So basically my mom gave birth to a daughter who is exactly like her. Children are the mirrors of their parents. This message is perfectly portrayed throughout the series. Just like how Ae Sun’s mom and Ae Sun herself try their best to improve their daughter's life, I understand that my mom also tries to improve my life. I'm going to live a happy life so that my mom can be proud, and so that my future daughter can live a better life too.

I'm definitely going to re-watch "When Life Gives You Tangerines" with my mom! I think she will think of her mother a lot too. I'm sure she will cry a lot but it's going to be a good cry.