Webtoon author Um Yu-jin recalled her mother's last lecture after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
On the 28th, Um Yu-jin, the author of the webtoon 'Punjaic Toon', appeared as a guest on tvN's 'You Quiz on the Block'.
On that day, Um Yu-jin shared that about a year after she started sharing stories about her parents, her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She said, "My mother and I were very close, and we always went out together. She was someone who kept her appointments meticulously, but she forgot our meeting at the playground. I thought my mother would never forget an appointment. When I called my father, he said my mother was at the bank. I was surprised when my mother said she would come to the playground, but she didn't show up even after 30 minutes. When I called again, she was at home," she recalled. She continued, "People can forget appointments, but at that time, it felt like a situation I had never encountered before."
Um Yu-jin said, "After the playground incident, my mother continued to forget appointments. One day, she suddenly disappeared, leaving the car parked on the street, and there was a bag in front of our parking lot. My father was also surprised at that time. When such incidents repeated, we took her to the hospital for a thorough examination." The results showed that her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Um Yu-jin mentioned that her mother's condition worsened day by day, saying, "My mother was very independent and used to solve everything on her own, so she might have disliked needing my help. She went through the process of having a caregiver change. Especially when it came to driving. I am not good at driving, so my mother always drove me, and when I sat in the driver's seat, I felt a lot that 'my role is changing.'
When Yoo Jae-suk asked, "Didn't your mother continue to give lectures? It must have been difficult for her to keep lecturing after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's," Um Yu-jin replied, "It was hard to persuade her when I told her, but when she felt that something was wrong herself, she decided it was her last lecture."
She continued, "I felt a bit sad on the day of my mother's last lecture. I was watching from outside as she lectured, and she told the students, 'There’s no problem in talking about what I’ve always lectured on, but I might forget some things. So when Christmas comes, think of it as a reminder and don’t hesitate to tell me if I forget something.' It was the end of the semester, and Christmas was just around the corner, and the students received it cheerfully, so I thought that moment was beautiful."
Meanwhile, 'You Quiz on the Block' airs every Wednesday at 8:45 PM.
[Lee Se-bin, Star Today Guest Reporter]
