Soup, Mom and Memories
My favorite soup is split pea soup. It has to be one of the most heart-warming soups I have ever eaten. It has a creamy texture and a subtle — but delicious — taste that fills you with warmth in every spoonful and it pairs wonderfully with buttered toast. However, not all split pea soups are equal. ‘Cause the best kind is the one cooked by my mom.
All right, story time:
So, I always catch a cold as the temperature goes down and, for as long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed a warm bowl of split pea soup. I can clearly remember when I was little being sick and lying on the couch, watching cartoons, and my mom would come bring me a hot bowl of soup and some buttered toast. I’m pretty sure I have only ever had it when I was sick and at some point it seemed almost magical. I would eat it for a couple weeks and I would get better. In my childish mind I thought the soup helped me more than any medicine.
To this day, split pea soup is my go-to when I’m feeling under the weather. It’s filling, but doesn’t make me feel heavy after eating. Its taste also doesn’t leave much to the imagination — almost ‘what you see is what you get’. This can be incredibly helpful when I’m sick because, well, nothing really sits right when my body is fighting off cold viruses. Now, I admit, my split pea soup does not match my mom’s at all (this is the recipe I use), but I still get hit with nostalgic memories whenever I eat it.
I, unfortunately, don’t live with my mom anymore — I actually live an excruciating 800 miles from her — and it's hard not being able to see her whenever I want or eat the delicious meals she cooks everyday. I honestly think the hardest thing about moving to Phoenix was leaving her behind. My mom has been with me, literally, since birth and I have so many wonderful memories with her.
She loves traveling and has taken me all over the world with her. My first trip was to Thailand when I was 1 year old — my dad is from there, which explains why we went. Since then I’ve been to Egypt, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, South Africa, and Indonesia!
Now, even though all of those trips were amazing, I have to admit that the best memories of my mom are the ones where her love and support were undeniable.
My family moved to Thailand when I was 10 years old and it was one of the hardest experiences for me at that point. I was leaving behind all of my friends and moving to a country where I barely even knew the language. The first few months at school in Thailand were miserable for me. I would come home crying everyday because none of my classmates would even talk to me. I mean, I understand now that it was because my fluency in English intimidated them. However, at the time it just felt like I was completely alone. Until, that is, I would get home and my mom would be there. She would hold me and wipe away my tears every day. I had never really thought of myself as a “momma’s girl” until that time.
Since then, I have always gone to her for support when I’m upset. She’s held and talked me through boys and breakups. She’s listened to me cry over the phone whenever I’ve been stressed — although I’m sure she probably couldn’t even understand me. I know that, no matter what happens, I will be ok because she will always be there for me.
She even moved back to California with me — literally just the two of us — when I decided I wanted to go to high school there. She has constantly put my happiness before hers and I will forever be grateful for that. My mom is my biggest supporter and my best friend. Many people like to say that their dad is their hero, but my hero is my mom.
