We had mentioned a while back that life had been a little nuts over here at Kimchi Headquarters. Everyone’s life is a little nuts, no? I guess we should have said it was a lotta nuts over here, but now that it’s calming down, we’ll break it down for you. It has very little to do with kimchi. Feel free to skip this post if our personal lives bore you…
Granny Choe went in for a relatively straightforward surgery last September to fix a herniated disc in her neck, but there was a complication resulting in a bout in the ICU, two urgent revision surgeries and a long recovery process. The rest of the family and I juggled care for her and Little E and Grandpa Choe (partially disabled by a stroke), Great-grandma Choe (Alzheimer’s Disease and paranoid), and Great-grandpa Choe (just really old). For a while there life felt like that riddle where you’re supposed to get a fox, a chicken, and a bag of seed across the river…
Through the whole ordeal, Granny Choe never complained or posed herself as a victim… she thanked God that she was still alive, made sure her family was taken care of (even while she was lying in a hospital bed), and told every nurses’ assistant and janitor who came through her hospital room what a great job they were doing. Granny Choe is a pretty cool lady.
Then Great-grandpa Choe passed away a few months ago… and Papa Choe (who helps run the kimchi biz) changed departments at his day job and was working long hours. But we all made it through, and there’s nothing quite like death, near-death and daily visits to the hospital/nursing home to put life into perspective. Granny Choe is mostly recovered now, but still has some pain and numbness in her left arm (this is not nearly as bad as we thought it would be when she came out of the first surgery).
Life is crazy sometimes… and when you run a small, family business, it does allow you some flexibility (nice), but the responsibilities are shared between so few people that when when one person is out, it gets really crazy (not nice). Something to consider if you are thinking about starting your own business.
Whew! Now it’s time to get back to taking over the country with our kimchi 
