I was crying in bed reading Crying in H-Mart

I spent two days finishing up Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner two weekends ago, and I don't think I'll ever recover from it.

Here is the Bento Box I created for this memoir:

1. The Heart

The Heart represents Michelle's relationship with her loved ones, primarily with her mom and Peter. The memoir itself is attributed to her mom, focusing on the course of her relationship with her mom throughout the years from her mother looking at her as if she "...were a worm, an unfamiliar speck eating away at all her efforts" to being completely inseparable (Zauner 65). Especially after her mother is diagnosed with cancer, Michelle realizes the importance of relationships and learns to cherish them. While her mother is struggling with cancer, Peter is always by Michelle taking care of her and trying the best he can to help her through it. 

2. The Sheet Music

Throughout Michelle's adolescence, music has been her only solace to escape the cultural and social stereotypes she was facing. At school, she was picked on for being "different" and "Asian," completely wrecking her mental health. This caused her grades to plummet and her to turn to drugs, ruining her relationship with her mom at this time. As a result, music was the only way she could escape from these hardships with no judgment, harboring her dream to become a musician in the future. Without these hardships to guide her to music, she would not have been able to express herself freely and not feel out of place. 

3. The Mini Sculpture

The Mini Sculpture represents what could have been Michelle and her father's relationship. After Michelle grew up and her mother was diagnosed with cancer, she was "unsure of how we'd manage to pull through together" (Zauner 73). Her separation from her dad began when she found scheduled, paid affairs he was making with other women, meaning they were "not innately, intrinsically intertwined" the way she was with her mother (Zauner 73). Therefore, Michelle always had a lonely responsibility to take care of her mother while she had cancer because she distrusted her father completely for not being able to support her mother. This relationship was the only exception where Michelle's new wisdom of cherishing did not change her thoughts.

4. The Ttukbaegi

With her mother being unable to properly move and do housework, Michelle was left alone to try and fill her absence. This is when she discovered that cooking - through the help of a YouTuber named Maangchi - could provide her with comfort and prevent her from worrying about her mother. Therefore, the Ttukbaegi, or the earthenware pot, represents the Korean heritage she has, or the only connection she has now to her mom. She cooks Korean food constantly, reliving memories she had of her childhood with her mom that associated with the food, providing another solace for her to feel calm. 

Overall, this memoir greatly helped me realize, once again, the importance of cherishing every moment that ever comes my way and making sure not to take things for granted. Without Michelle's story, I would not have gone downstairs to hug my mom tightly and I would not have realized how lucky I was to be healthy. Without Michelle's story, I would not have realized how proud I was to be Korean.

I realized I didn't do a trademark for my last post so I guess you can look at this gorgeous picture of me crying in bed reading Crying in H-Mart (I'll think of a trademark soon I promise :D)