You could say I had a bit of a breakdown at Trader Joe's the other day. It wasn't the fantastic selection of nuts, wines, and frozen vegetarian foods; it was the memories associated with so many products, and the different stages of my life. The ak-mak crackers were from my late teens, a period of discovering new foods, books, and music, and really defining myself. The dalmatia fig spread was my mid-twenties, buying a house near a Whole Foods market, settling down, and socialising. The meatless corn dogs took me back 10 years, when I accidentally went vegetarian and had to rediscover eating all over again. The "volcano" coffee is what I served at the B&B, after discovering a Trader Joe's had opened 45 minutes away The cashews were a sad reminder of when I finally decided to cut nuts out of my diet because of a mild allergic reaction (although I still cheat occasionally). But the most poignant item were the blue corn tortilla chips, which just reminded me of my dad, gone 17 years last week.
It's funny to consider my history in terms of foodstuffs, but I guess that's what history is made of--not the sharp highs and lows but the daily grind. I'm grateful to have had all these wonderful experiences and times in my life, and to be able to relive them through such simple reminders. However, at the moment I really miss that stability and financial freedom I once enjoyed, and so the memories can be bittersweet.
But in writing this, I discovered that Trader Joe's was bought by a German company which also operates the Aldi stores in the UK. 4 years here and I've not been to an Aldi's, but there is one less than a mile from my house, so I will be checking them out soon!
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