Week 32: Loss, Grief and Healing with Food

Week 32: August 6-12th, 2023

This week was hard. I got news from my parents that one of my closest childhood friends passed away. I cried and cried until my eyes hurt and my nose felt chapped. I felt helpless. I couldn't do much besides address my grief and feel it intensely. It boils up inside me throughout the day, and right now, I don't feel capable of putting words together that might honor Blair properly. In time, I may be able to share more about who she was, how she impacted my life in many ways, and how the world has lost a shining light with her passing. But, for right now, I can't.

The one thing that I could think about that may provide some sort of comfort was food. I sought comfort through food, specifically Korean food, and found it at Seoul Korean Tofu House.

I was immediately welcomed in by a warm, motherly Korean lady who ushered me to a table and placed a menu in front of me.

A good selection of dishes!

I browsed the menu while I waited for my friend Syann to come join me.

My favorite part of the menu is the "Deeped" fried section.

We ordered kimchi pancakes, kimchi fried rice, and tofu stew. The banchan was great.

The banchan

Kimchi Pancakes

Kimchi Fried Rice

Bubbling tofu stew

We were the only ones in the restaurant until a pair of older white guys came in. One of them kept looking around and saying he had never had "food like this" before, and I braced myself for more questionable comments. Thankfully, they didn't happen. The pair asked us about our dishes and I recommended a couple things for them to try. They did not want anything "too spicy." Hmm. Figures. Overall, they seemed to enjoy their meal and I was glad to help someone experience something new for the first time. After all, that is the whole idea behind my New Year's Resolution, and so far I've kept to it, even through devastating loss.

Seeking comfort in food was the first step, and it helped. But I want to let myself feel this sadness and this grief. I'm going to go watch old Project Runway episodes and pretend to be King Julien, the lemur, from Madagascar, because those are some of the best memories I have with Blair.

See you next week.