Where do you find peace? Safeway.

Rebecca Recinos is a senior Liberal Studies major at Seattle University.
She finds peace at Safeway grocery stores.

How do you define peace?
Peace is feeling a sense that everything is ok. Even if it's brief, peace is being able to relax and feel grounded. It is a feeling of home, of something safe and familiar and a feeling of genuine happiness.

What about Safeway conjures peace for you?
Part of it is the familiarity of it, it's like a piece of home. Safeway is the one store in Seattle that is also in California, where I grew up. My grandma was really into grocery shopping and she made it a full day affair. She'd check the papers and if there was a sale we would head straight to the grocery store post haste. She'd circle everything from the coupons that she wanted to buy and I'd head to the grocery store with her.  I was the only one of the grandkids who actually liked grocery shopping with her. We would walk around the store for hours and she'd teach me about saving and what kind of food to buy. I had a great time doing it. Whenever I called her on the phone, we'd talk about groceries. Whenever I'm stressed out or upset, I notice I always go to grocery stores (especially Safeway) and feel better.

Do you have any particular memories or stories you want to share?
My first or second week of freshman year I was feeling particularly lonely and I was trying to think of what would make me feel better. I ended up walking to the 23rd and Madison Safeway and bought some funfetti cake and tortillas. On the way back to my dorm I felt so much better. That was the first time that I realized the connection I felt to these grocery stores and my grandma's influence and presence among them.
Later, at her funeral, I brought the grocery store papers and circled everything I knew she would have liked and put them in her coffin. Nowadays, it makes me really happy when I get my paycheck and head to the Safeway for groceries. I walk the aisles and think of my grandma. Sometimes, I'll call my mom when I'm at Safeway because she is the closest connection to my grandma. I feel grounded and happy here.