Hi Bye, Mama! is a 2020 South Korean television series shown in tvN and Netflix. Cha Yu-ri (Kim Tae-hee) has been a ghost since she died, while pregnant in a tragic accident five years ago. She left her husband, Jo Gang-hwa (Lee Kyu-hyung) and their daughter, Seo Woo (Seo Woo-Jin). Well, as for Yu-Ri, who lose her chance for a family abruptly, she has been constantly around her family. But she dotes on her daughter as a mommy ghost, since she can’t be a mother to Seo Woo physically. But then she miraculously reincarnated and was given 49 days to take her place back to become human again. She appears in front of his husband again after 5 years. How did that happen?

It is a heart warming story of love, family, friendship, faith, death and most importantly, a mother’s love.

Watch it’s trailer here:

Here’s some thoughts I had after watching the whole series:

There’s nothing like that one friend that you can always count on. That one friend who will accept you no matter what and who you are. That one friend that knows you from head to toe, your heart’s most deepest desires. That friend that will fight with you through your battles. That friend you can cry on her shoulder and will even cry with you. That friend who will not call you crazy for the things that you may do, but will be crazy with you. That friend who will understand you, even if she can’t really understand it at all. You’re lucky and blessed if you have at least just one of that kind friend.

There’s this kind of love that can’t easily be broken. A love so strong that even death can not falter. It is admirable. To just love a person, so genuinely, so deeply. Sigh. That’s the kind of love anyone would want to have. Add to that how the kind of husband Gwang-hwa was to Yu-ri, is just goals.

If all else fails, we have our family. They will always have our back no matter what. That’s the place where we can always go home to when times are tough. They will always welcome us with open arms.

But there’s this other kind of family, one that is unconventional. Being family doesn’t need to be blood. It’s those who you also consider as one. In this case, Gwang-hwa re-married and Min Jeong came to love Seo Woo as her own as well. Family can also be your best friend, one that you share your life with.. share your whole family even.

A mother’s love is so powerful. They would ask, when your parents die, you become an orphan. when your spouse die, you become a widow, when your child die, what do they call you? None. There is no word to express how a parent would be called when they lose a child. They would say, a parent should never bury their child. Cha Yuri’s Mom has regrets on Yuri’s death. She wished so hard to see her daughter, even for one last time. She has regrets especially she was the last person that Yuri talked to before she accidentally died. A mother would do anything just to hug her daughter, even one last time.

A mother wants nothing but the best for her child. She dreams so big for her child’s future. She would do anything just to protect her child, even if that meant sacrificing her needs or wants. It is because a mother’s love is everything but selfish. Sabi nga nila, isusubo mo na lang, ibibigay mo pa.

Hi Bye Mama, isn’t only about Yu-Ri and Seo Woo or Yu-ri and her mom. It is quite evident. It is all about them. But in reality, I guess, it is not. Hi Bye Mama isn’t only about those 3 characters. If you remember Hi Bye Mama has a lot of minor characters, and if you look at it closely, they also have their Hi Bye Mama moment.

Pil Seung, became an orphan at a young age, when his parents and sibling died in a car accident, right in front of him. As he grows up, he has been longing for his family that is why he became a pilot — so that it feels like he is with them when he is up in the sky. He also longed for the care that a mother would give, like cooking home cooked meals and a clean house, and of course, a mother’s love.

Hyeok Jin, the little ghost in Seo Woo’s school, who has been waiting for his mom to come back and pick him up like a normal kid. But he never got it until Yu-Ri and Seo Woo helped him.

Midong, alive, has a an estranged son. He doesn’t want her to be in his family’s life because she attracts ghosts. He just don’t know how heart broken her mother is.

Gwi-soon‘s died telling her daughter that it hurts – all the medical procedure that she has gone though when she was still alive. Now that her daughter is sick, she wanted to endure the pain that her mother must have felt because she feels guilty about that decision of hers. She doesn’t know that her mother in the other world is deeply hurt that her daughter is hurting as well.

Hye Jin, the girl who committed suicide because she couldn’t take bullying in her work place anymore and how she regretted it when she saw her mother in the streets in front of her workplace seeking for justice and crying. She then realized after her death that there is more to life than our dreams being crushed, well, maybe because it isn’t for us. it’s too late now.

Sung Mi-ja, always anxious of her adult son, who is always crying for her when he visits the columbarium. She would always worry of her son’s life that’s spiraling down. As a mom, even in her afterlife, would always think of her son’s welfare.

Baseball Player Sang-bong, the sports celebrity who was said that died by suicide, but towards the end, we learn that he was murdered by a friend and all he wanted to do was tell let her mother know how much he loves him, that he wasn’t able to do so when he was still alive. It was too late when he realized it.

It all boils down to one thing – to make our mothers feel loved – before it is too late.

I realized that whether we are prepared for one’s passing or one passed suddenly, we will feel the same pain. We feel pain because we have lost them and that they will not be present in our life anymore. The pain will always be there, it will hurt us more on days that we feel sad and we miss them so bad. But pain will still be there even when we are smiling and having a great time, we just don’t feel it that moment.

We will never know when our last day on earth will be, one minute you are living your best life and excited for all of your tomorrows, the next minute you may be gone.

So spend all days of your life with the one you love the most. Make time for what and whom that truly matter to you. Do all the things you want to do, as they say YOLO! So that you may live with no regrets. So that when your time comes to leave the earth, the people you will leave behind can look back on all the happy memories.

Not everyone will get to say goodbye when they die, nor in reality, we wouldn’t get a similar gift like with what Cha YuRi received from above. So treat your day as if it is your last – don’t sleep till you were able to say sorry if you have hurt someone (or someone may have hurt you), to those you are grateful for, say thank you and make them feel appreciated, share your dreams because you will never know how your dreams are important to the people you love, and give the warmth of your hug.

Right after the last episode, with all the maga in face because of crying, I went to the other room and hugged my sleeping Coco-bear with all my might. I’m lucky that I get to see him grow up to the little person that he is now and looking forward to his tomorrows. I’m grateful. Do the same will you?

Credits:
All photos taken from Hancinema.net and other random pages via Google.