Sara Streeter
The Incomplete List of What I Lost
“Home is the place where everything I’ve lost is waiting patiently for me to find my way back.” Jimmy Liao, Sound of Colors
Puzzle pieces. Patience for small talk at parties. My phone for the 800th time. The ability to play the piano (I quit after the teacher told me my hands were too small). My favorite photo from summer camp. A slippery Airpod case on a plane from Boston. Too many friends to name.
My name, 한혜숙.
Capacity to sleep without a sound machine. Sunglasses to the bottom of Virginia’s New River. Countless pacifiers. Feeling on my left calf after a playground accident involving a rusty screw and fifty stitches. Access to my first Instagram account.
Omma, 화자. Appa, 영작.
A Kindle on a train from New Jersey. A black zip-up hoodie at a high school bonfire in Charles City County. Lactose tolerance. My virginity on the top of a dorm room bunk bed (twin XL, sheets with blue stars). Track of time.
Unni, 채희, 채연, 정혜, 옥남, 임숙.
A recording I made of singing bullfrogs on the creek. Baby teeth. A scrapbook of dried flowers. A 401(k) from my first job. Christmas fucking cheer. A pet hermit crab named Oscar. Control of my inbox. The black button eyes of a stuffed owl.
The need to look back.
Sara Streeter (she/her) is a transracially adopted Korean-American, mother, and designer. By sharing her story, Sara hopes to raise awareness about the inherent complexities of adoption. She has been published in Hippocampus Magazine, Longleaf Review, Peatsmoke Journal and Cutleaf Journal, among others. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. Find her at sarajstreeter.com.