Matthew - and the power of gum

So Matthew, who has surprised us all with his quick acclimation to this new whole adventure and his ready acceptance and affection for welcoming his baby sister into his family, finally has had his day of reckoning. A morning back to Itaewon for a little more shopping, a shortened nap, and then a very long subway ride to Jamsil Stadium only to find out they were sold out of tickets for the baseball game proved to be just too much for Matty. Coming back from Jamsil Stadium, he had finally had enough. With about 12 more stops to go, he started wailing, flailing and everything else! Todd tried calming him down. I tried calming him down. Lucy and Jacob tried calming him down. The people around us tried calming him down (did I mention it was a packed subway!). We offered him candy, suckers, movies on my ipod Touch. He threw the candy on the floor and said "no!" to the rest. After 10 minutes, even the very old man (dressed very dapper in a suit and hat) said a few words in Korean - rather loudly and suddenly, we think in hopes of distracting Matty. Nothing. Only more kicking and more tears. I was rocking and swaying Matty all the while trying to keep my balance. All of a sudden, a man came and pushed his way over to us from the other end of the subway car. He was an older gentleman, around 50-60, dressed in a suit. I thought, oh boy, what does this guy think he's going to do that we haven't already tried!?!! He looked at Matty, fumbled in his pocket and held out a stick of gum. Silence. Matty reached over and took the gum and started opening it up and ate it. Someone actually clapped. I said "thank you" to the man about 10 times. Even Matty gave him a big smile!

So, to the man with the gum, "Kamsa Hamida"!! The Woolf Family and the rest of the subway THANK YOU and are forever grateful to you!