I Suck At Drinking Soup

there is a tradition in the chinese culture in which a mother is supposed to drink a particular soup following the birth of a child. it's also customary for the mother to be housebound for the month following childbirth too, but that's a different story.

anyway, with the birth of my son (braden), my parents made some soup for karen. my mom, of course, tried to americanize the soup a little so that the appearance and taste of the soup would not scare off the normal american consumer. after all, there are a lot of chinese dishes that do not exactly look appealing.

i have been told by my parents that the particular soup provides medicinal and nutritional value. the soup, consisting of chicken, tree fungus, and vegetables tied in a knot, is supposed to provide protein and rid the body of cold air in the system.

it's too bad i suck at drinking soup. i've never been a soup-type of person. i like my liquids warm to cool, which actually is not good according to chinese tradition. nonetheless, karen and i did partake in drinking the concoction of my parents. like i tell most of my friends... if you can get past the visual of most foods, you would be surprised by the taste. (of course, i usually phrase it in a much more inappropriate way of "just close your eyes and put it in your mouth" and snicker afterwards.)

anyway, after having about eighty people in our tiny house following the funeral service for our son (braden), my favorite sister in law (janine) asked if we wanted to hang out at her place. apparently, our friends (hot amy, jen, carlos) and my bff (kerry) were going to be headed there.

with everything that has happened of late, i thought it would be good for karen to hang out with all of them. after all, she hasn't had the opportunity to experience any sense of normalcy in the past few weeks.

with the passing of braden, both karen and i realize that there is nothing anyone can really say other than "sorry". we understand that. we know that we are blessed to have friends and family willing and wanting to help us (or at least karen).

naturally, with my instigating ways, i started to think about how far people would go when they offer their help when they say something like "if there is anything i/we can do..."

(bing! light bulb!)

the stinker that i am... i happen to know that most of karen's friends have food issues. the mere look of the soup concoction that my parents made would be enough to turn their stomachs. even hearing the word tree fungus would probably make them sick. so naturally, i decided to call their bluff by having them drink the leftover soup to see in fact..."if there is anything i/we can do"...

needless to say, i was pleasantly surprised. whether it was to just prove me wrong or not, everyone at the table had some of the soup. carlos even enjoyed the soup, saying it really did taste like chicken soup. i don't think any of them would ever drink it again, but it truly is a nice feeling to know that you have people who would make sacrifices for you... even if it is something silly like drink a soup they normally would not.

plus, it helped get rid of the soup. unfortunately, i have just learned that my parents have created another soup made from dates for karen and me. i wonder if our friends will help with that soup too...