I mentioned before how Mom scrutinizes her kids’ weight. Last October I visited Michigan, and from a self esteem standpoint the trip didn’t go well. Not only did I find out that my visit was poor timing due to Mom’s pepper obsession, my little Korean mother obliterated any positive body issues I had in just four short days.

I play in a men’s basketball league with my buddies. One time Mom wanted to come watch a game. To my surprise, she managed to find the gym on time. I was having a really good game — everything was falling for me. I could hear her cheer with every basket. It was nice.

My mom has one hobby that we know of, and that is the planting, growing, picking, and selling of hot peppers. She complains about it so much that for the longest time I thought she hated growing peppers, but then one day it dawned on me that, despite her constant complaints and belly aching, she actually loves doing it. Don’t let the constant “Mommy break back in field allllll day long picking damn pepper!” moanings fool you — she loves that shit.

My mom knows nothing about video games other than the fact that my brothers and I enjoy playing them. Whenever she’d see me playing Zelda, she’d just roll her eyes and say, “Rebecca playing that Green Boy again. Aaaaaalways playing Green Boy. She in love with that Green Boy!” After a while, my brother John would bait Mom into making a funny “Green Boy” comment by asking her what I was playing. It quickly became a running joke in the house that I was in love with Green Boy.

My mom has often referred to me as her little Cornbread Baby, which is a random nickname to bestow upon your child (I’m used to “Becca” or “Bec” as the more conventional monikers). As always, there’s a Mom Story behind the nickname that makes perfect sense to her but leaves us scratching our heads.