How lucky am I to know her.
A person who’s always smiling and laughing, the kind of smile and laugh that is contagious.
She has an odd but interesting obsession with natural disaster sci-fi movies.
A plethora of hobbies, including gardening, sewing, cooking, and grocery shopping (yes, I might even go as far as to say it’s her top favorite thing in the world besides cooking).
Her garden is full of abnormally oversized green onions and zucchinis, a whole army of mint leaves, the plumpest reddest tomatoes, and, at one point, some pretty sad-looking but still cute tiny strawberries in between.
The kitchen is iconically known to be her space, where she is always coming out with her latest creations, experimenting, and whipping out an absurd amount of dishes in two hours or less as if she didn’t just work a 12-hour shift.
Her sewing corner, on the other hand, is piled high with projects of all shapes and colors, mostly ranging from pants, hats, scarves, shirts, and eventually face masks for a few years.
Everyone can agree that she’s the funniest, strongest, toughest, and most fearless person they know (there’s seriously nothing she’s afraid of, she quite literally has her eyeliner tattooed on).
She makes friends everywhere she goes, and her bubbly, talkative, outgoing personality is hard to miss in any room. Even if you are the type to be antisocial, it doesn’t matter who you are, you’re automatically her friend anyway.
“If other people can do it, so can you” is her go-to motto, and something she often says to me when I doubt my own abilities in the most seemingly impossible situations.
If she’s not in the kitchen, garden, grocery store, or at her sewing corner, she’s in her other favorite spot―the living room couch. Which, if she’s not watching cooking videos or vlogs of people eating and traveling around her childhood home, she’s binging all the Korean dramas she can find on YouTube and gossiping on the phone.
She can also be pretty gullible, something we always have to watch out for, because one time she was convinced Selena Gomez had married Chris Hemsworth and had kids with him, and another time, where she thought that energy from the earth can be harnessed by a person and virtually transferred as a way of healing (not entirely sure where these crazy notions come from but YouTube is partially to blame).
On one too many occasions, you’ll see her randomly throwing up a peace sign or a finger heart, which is her go-to for any photo op. She’s honestly a walking meme, but in the best way possible.
She hates anything floral scented, white flowers, messy or dirty spaces (especially in the kitchen), and loose hair on any of the house floors.
ABBA music is one of her favorite classics, and playing the guitar, drawing, and reading were once her favorite ways to pass the time.
You can always count on her to be one of the best shopping companions ever too because somehow she always knows what looks good on you.
Going on walks around the neighborhood is also a regular thing for her, which will sometimes include the occasional pit stop at the park or just mid-walk, to do probably one of the most random, weirdest stretches you’ll ever see.
She loves a good hearty bowl of spicy beef noodle soup, an occasional cup of green tea, and tofu pudding soaked in the stickiest, sweetest pool of ginger syrup.
Body aches are unfortunately a regular recurrence for her as well, so her nightly routine consists of smothering her body in a pretty pungent-smelling asian herbal oil while giving herself the most rigorous massage.
Wearing slippers around the house is a must for her, and making sure the most important spots in the house are spotlessly clean―the top of the stove vent, the garage floors, the nooks and crannies of the bedroom windows, and all the carpet corners.
She’s also a good listener if you ever need to rant, full of faith, and actually so underrated for how smart she is for coming up with these things people wouldn’t ever think of.
Worrying way too much about everyone around her is her specialty too, even when there’s nothing to worry about.
Her sweet, kind persona is a bit of a throwoff though, because sometimes she’ll hit you with an intense dose of her wrath, scolding, yelling, or harsh criticism, which only a few people, including myself, have the pleasure of experiencing (laughing while she hits you with it usually does the trick here).
But she gives the best hugs and a hand to hold onto, and exudes this striking positive energy, so positive that you question her sanity in situations where you shouldn’t be positive.
Everyone is jealous of the fact that she doesn’t have a single body hair to shave (I’m jealous too), because her skin is quite literally as smooth as butter.
“Wet cat” and “I love you” are things I would often hear her say, with the first one being more of a joking but also not jokingly insult towards me.
She’s never really been one to thrive in the athletic department, but out on the badminton and, most recently, the pickleball courts, she can throw down a pretty mean game.
Her childhood had no shortage of hardship and consisted of parents who apparently used to be brutally strict and harsh, and an insane amount of siblings who looked just like her.
Like many of us, she has her moments of feeling insecure about her body, to which everyone says she’s crazy because her body is fine just the way it is.
Alcohol, aspirin, and swimming are some of her weaknesses, with the first making her face glow up like a red lantern, the second making her break out in an allergic reaction, and the third is because she never learned.
Crying is a rarity for her, and one of the other most notable things about her is that she has this determination unlike any other. When she sees something that catches her eye, like a restaurant dish or a clothing item, she always declares that she is determined to figure out her own way to make it at home.
Overall, she’s irreplaceable in every universe and lifetime, a home and best friend all wrapped up in one, and there’s no one quite like her.
― A person I once knew, but it feels like a dream or made-up
