Containing two stories, kitchen and Moonlight Shadow, Banana Yoshimoto explored the themes of grief, love and self-discovery in such a beautiful and serene way, that brought me such comfort despite the ugliness of death, that takes away our loved ones. 
Kitchen is a story told through the the eyes of mekage, a young woman who lost her grandmother  the only person left that she was tied to by blood, and whom she loved so greatly and was taken in by Eriko and her son Yuichi. The characters felt so genuine and real I wanted to give them a warm hug, I especially love their emotional maturity, where they want to confort each other while also respecting each other spaces to process that complexities of life.