Rachel Choi was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer in spring 2025.

But that’s not the story I want to tell.

I met Rachel 12 years ago working at Starbucks. She feels like a sister to me.
Rachel is a keystone of our close-knit Starbucks crew. Community and collective care comes naturally to this group of people; it was deeply impactful to my 19 yro self.

Rachel has a gift of gathering people.
She took a trio of us camping in Tobermory.
She held hallmark Thanksgiving get togethers, toiling over dishes all week long.
Our friend, Gabbie, met her life partner at Rachel’s Thanksgiving.
She introduced us to the best Gong Cha drink, which we all still order today: wintermelon milk foam with basil seeds.
Rachel drove solo for 4 hours round trip to my 30th birthday.

8 years after my last day at Starbucks, she rounded up the crew again for her wedding.

Although Rachel’s health started to decline, she reunited the Starbucks crew at our classic haunt, Old Spaghetti Factory. She has infinite care for the people around her, checking in on their emotions & needs, and offering reassurance despite her low energy.

In her 33 years of life, she indelibly impacted my life and others with her unconditional love. In tangible and intangible ways, she saved my life.

May Rachel’s story be a reminder to choose love, choose kindness, and choose community. Life is never guaranteed.

On this day, and every year on Rachel’s birthday, I will sip on a Gong Cha wintermelon milk foam with basil seeds in her loving memory.

Rachel Choi July 8, 1992 – March 19, 2026