Days of Despair

Kelly Park was back at her La Crescenta art studio Monday, teaching youngsters to draw and paint. But Park hasn’t yet been able to put her own brush to canvas. It is still too painful.

The 43-year-old Glendale resident returned from Guam last week after waiting in vain for two weeks for the identification of the body of her 8-year-old daughter Tiffany, one of 226 people who perished when a Korean Air jetliner smashed into a hill a few miles from the island’s airport. Tiffany’s body has not been identified.

“I lost 11 people in the crash,” Park said slowly, measuring her words and breath. “There was not even one survivor among my family.”

Though 28 passengers survived the Aug. 6 crash, none were relatives of Park. The bodies of her youngest sister, her sister’s husband and two children, the children’s paternal grandparents, an aunt, uncle and two cousins remain in Guam. Thus far only three have been identified, Park said.

“They say they’ll do a DNA test [to help identify Tiffany’s remains] so they need a blood sample,” she said. “It’s a very difficult thing to deal with.”

Park returned to her art studio hoping to ease her painful memories, she said. But the acrylic paints, pencils and watercolors at her studio are in the hands of her young charges--a handful of teenagers.

“I’m trying to get busy, but it is hard to concentrate,” Park said. “I hope it helps me deal with the pain.”

Park visited the crash scene with the governor of Guam. She recalled seeing some luggage and debris, but not much else.

“There was really nothing left, only ashes,” she said. “I thought there are no more miracles there. My daughter, my relatives are gone. I feel no hope now; they’re gone.”

Park is no stranger to airline tragedy. Another sister, Meena, lost her husband in 1983 when Korean Air Flight 007 was downed by a Soviet fighter jet. But rather than fearing air travel, Park said she hopes fate will treat her better than it has other members of her family.

“I lost my daughter, my sister and she lost her husband and her whole family,” Parks said. “Meena lost her husband. Next it’s going to be me I sometimes feel. But I will fly again. Eventually, I will have to go to funeral services in Korea; I just don’t know whose it will be yet.”

She is prepared for 11 funerals, she said, noting that each will be held in Korea. “We have to wait and see when they identify which bodies,” Park said.

Tiffany Park’s school, the Montrose Christian Montessori School, has begun a memorial fund in honor of the former student, a standout at the campus. More than $3,000 has been donated so far and Park plans to use the money for funeral expenses.

“Tiffany had just finished the second grade,” said Chris McReynolds, school principal. “She was a very good student with excellent grades and excellent test scores, in the 90th percentile and above. She was an outstanding artist as well. We miss her.”

Tiffany’s paintings of flowers and friends remain a powerful reminder of her presence. Park, who hasn’t picked up a brush since returning from Guam, is hopeful the art inside her will bloom anew.

“It’s important to get back into it,” she said. “It’s just so hard. I have students here now drawing and painting. Soon, I hope to also.”