A friend of mine in Laguna Woods Village, a graduate of  SNU engineering college,

sent me a webpage above.

This is exactly what's happening in the retirement village of Laguna Woods.

Lately, a few people close to us died suddenly in our retirement village

and one of them was least expected to do that. That's why I put this webpage here.

I do not know "김옥교 수필가". I assume the essayist is a female and is a Korean-American

living in a retirement village.

But his webpage is on "http://blog.daum.net."  Did someone move the article to Korea?

Most likely, for other people in America, this is not happening where they live.

It's very unfortunate that you can not do this with your friends where you live.

Because you probably don't have such neighbors to socialize and enjoy such daily gathering.

Just to show you that friends are so important in our senile life,

but most of us don't have such an environment in America.

When have you talked to your neighbor or even had a cup of coffee

casually in the morning at a neighborhood MacDonald's?

I thought it is about yourself before I recognize the author’s name.

Friends are important part of one’s life at any age, but it gets less

and less as one becomes older. Furthermore, it gets harder to see

friends living far away as you get older because both your interest

and ability to travel diminishes. The essay surprisingly describes 

 the atmosphere of  Lagunawoods very well. It’s not the good food

that makes you happy, but it is friends that you are dinning with.

If You Had A Friend / Robert William Service 

If you had a friend strong, simple, true,
Who knew your faults and who understood;
Who believed in the very best of you,
And who cared for you as a father would;
Who would stick by you to the very end,
Who would smile however the world might frown:
I'm sure you would try to please your friend,
You never would think to throw him down.

And supposing your friend was high and great,
And he lived in a palace rich and tall,
And sat like a King in shining state,
And his praise was loud on the lips of all;
Well then, when he turned to you alone,
And he singled you out from all the crowd,
And he called you up to his golden throne,
Oh, wouldn't you just be jolly proud?

If you had a friend like this, I say,
So sweet and tender, so strong and true,
You'd try to please him in every way,
You'd live at your bravest -- now, wouldn't you?
His worth would shine in the words you penned;
You'd shout his praises . . . yet now it's odd!
You tell me you haven't got such a friend;
You haven't? I wonder . . . What of God?

As I said earlier, I do not know this person, 김옥교 수필가.

This was the first time to have read her (or his) article.

The subject of the article sounded like just a kindergarten story

and the contents were just mundane stories around us.

Yet, she wrote and composed in such an eloquent way to make it a very serious essay.

She's giving us a critical life lesson without hurting our pride.

That's why I decided to share it with you.

Even though I love to write as he does, such a writing skill is way beyond me. ㅎ, ㅎ,ㅎ.

Here, the author is talking about a retirement community.

How many of you felt a similar metaphor to our website?

"그래도 아직은 ‘친구야! 놀자!’ 하면 달려 나올 수 있는 
친구가 몇 명 있다는 것이 새삼 위안이 된다. "

A few commentators may be all we need in SNUMA website.

Too many may end up degrading the quality.

Now, you know what I mean.

I was able to trace 김옥교씨의 "라스모어"  village.

Rossmoor Senior Community, Walnut Creek, CA near Oakland east of the San Francisco Bay

Rossmoor is a gated community of more than 9,000 residents with 6,700 housing units. 

For details see below. (I have gotten to like "gated" community for the peace of my mind.)

https://abioproperties.com/neighborhood/rossmoor-senior-community-walnut-creek/

It looks like a really nice community. I guess it has a dry and cool weather year round.

Maybe a bit chilly in winter months. I assume no snow there.

The housing cost may be much cheaper due to the age restriction of 55 and over,

compared to San Francisco area.

If you can find a lot of SNU or SNUMC alumni, it should be even nicer.

Finding a lot of compatible friends is the "sine qua non" in picking where you are to live.

Rossmoor village in Walnut Creek is about 80miles away from where I live.

Walnut Creek is a suburb of SF and Oakland. I met 4-5 SNU MC graduates living

in the community in the last SNU alumni picnic. I have never been there, but it has

a golf course like Laguna Woods. 

위의 글을 보니 남의 이야기가 아니고 우리 Laguna Woods 의 이야기다.

제가 현 라구나 우즈 서울대 동우회 회장직을 맡았는데 이번 여름 바닷가 공원 대신, 

안전하고 편하고 물건 나르기 쉽고 편리한 clubhouse 로 옮겨 7/17 에 만남의 행사 하려 준비중이다.

연세드신 동문이 많아 지난 4 개월간 4 분의 동문이 돌아가시었다.

편리한 장소의 만남이 좋으신지 작년 바닷가 공원보다 많이 오시는( 90 명 이상 ) 모임이 될것 같다.

몸이 안좋으신 분들도 많다. 이곳 선배님 들의 “친구야 놀자” 의 대형 모임이 저의 계획대로

잘 되었으면 좋겠다.   최광택 

Dr. Choi, I know you got an armful of unexpected (or maybe somehow expected) tasks

as soon as you got the new job. What else can we do? Let's just accept the inevitables.

You have done well and I have no doubt that our summer picnic will be a success 

under your leadership.  Thanks.