Gajok, Ep. #103: May 1, 2024

I feel like I'm in bloom. I serendipitously, 인연스럽게, ran into my old friend from elementary school — Cardinal Forest Elementary in Springfield, Virginia! — while Greg and I were coming out of the train station to go to Duane Reade. She was holding up her Citibike, Greg and I were standing on the crosswalk and sidewalk, and we caught up for an hour on all the years of life lived, on the corner of Flatbush and Park. I felt transported back to my elementary school days, Springfield, and the way that place formed, broke, and built us. I just could not believe that a slice of my past life was being recreated 30 years later on the streets of Brooklyn. What kind of magic is this? I invited her to be a part of the Return to Jeong group. We took a photo and it just blew my mind, that all these years later, here we are, together again. I feel like I'm finding my way back to myself, but I also feel like a renewed, new self. I feel like I'm being resurrected from the ashes of these last four years. I feel so much more like me than I've felt in a really long time. I missed Jieun. But I also really like this new Jieun. I am incredible proud of myself, and all the work that's gone into forming this incredible woman — me.

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