Adventure Uncharted #002.5
# 002.5 — The American Dream Tastes Like Soul Food.
If every person on earth is dish then we would be the product of ingredients.
Mom + Dad = Human (Genetics)
Next would come:
Environment + Experience = The Self (Socialization)
My adult self is a product of Anna, my ex-fiance and Thach my brother in arms.
Three years ago, my family opened the doors to a restaurant called:
Kevin Rico Seafood and Oyster Bar
It was named after our shrimp boat that was apart of our shrimp boat supply store in Port Arthur, TX.
The moment I had walked off the graduation stage at Texas A&M in 2013, Anna and myself returned home to a restaurant less than before opening. It was then that us three embarked on a journey that would change everything we know and who we are.
Over two years, us three worked and handled every hurdle of personal and interpersonal tribulation. We were all only 23 when it happened. Together all got on a bullet express train of maturity. From stress, pain, sweat, tears, successes, failures, chaos and harmony.
If Thach was the wooden ship, Anna the bridging mast and I the guiding sail; one way or another we sailed onward.
Thach like the foundation of the vessel was constant as stone. To this day I know not another human with such a heart of sheer will and fortitude. Duty bound as he is loyal he is the epitome of what I lacked. And in turn we exemplified attributes the other did not have. In time we became brothers as well as comrades.
Because of him, I learned one of the most important truths.
Where we’ve been or how we’ve started is not where we have to be. And we’re simply all humans and not only the sum education, social status, wealth or anything society uses to divide us.
He came over from Vietnam at the age of 19 with a single word of English. He left his country as a perfectly normal middle class guy to a country ridden with the promise of wealth and prosperity. A story instantly familiar to any immigrant. A story similar to that my own parents but in times of war and refuge.
In 2011, at the age of 21, he went back to home to marry a long time love. Being thousands of miles away he Skype and spoke to her every single day all the way to the end of 2015 when she was finally able to come over. During that time he had his first child only 2 months after we opened in 2013.
As resilient and stalwart as pure granite, I watched this man take the weight of our restaurant and young distant family upon his shoulders. During this time he watched the good, bad & terrible times between himself, myself and Anna. Many a time he aided me, not by a soap box speech but through subtle consistent action and duty.
It’s been three years since we first met as boys and now we’ve become men. Through my pain and sorrow I had been made strong. And through his loneliness and solitude he was made strong.
A guy raised in an environment absolutely and completely opposite of mine.
Today, he speaks better English then people we have lived here 3 times longer, with a wife and little boy that took him 5 years to bring over and a level of strength, understanding and compassion not easily matched.
When I left, I had not a single fear of responsibilities for I knew this man could bare no less than I. He was the reason I was able to grow and find my calling. And in turn I did the same for him.
define: SOUL FOOD
- adjective, noun & verb
- feeds your body and most importantly your soul and spirit.
