WHAT IS YOUR IMMIGRATION STORY?
My dad came over from Vietnam during the war when he was 10. His mother and father put him and his sister on an airplane and just said, go to the USA, you need to get out of here. And so my dad's younger brother and younger sister, father and mother stayed in Vietnam. My dad ended up in Pacific Grove, California. They found someone to be their guardian, but the guardian wasn't really around. So my dad and older sister had to raise themselves, teach themselves how to cook, do things like finances, how to learn a whole new language, and go to school. I think for me, it's been really cool to hear the story of resilience. I can't even imagine when I was 10, going to another country and trying to figure life out without any support. The rest of my family came over or stayed in Vietnam; the ones that came over, some went to migrant camps, some were on the boat escapes and they made it out. Some went to prison for a while and then got out. And I think one of the coolest things is my dad is constantly learning about his family and he's learning about new cousins, new people, or people he grew up with, and he's just discovering more and more as he grows up. For example, this last fall, he went to Hawai'i and met up with some of his cousins that he had never met before.
WHAT DOES YOUR CURRENT JOURNEY LOOK LIKE?
Then my dad became a citizen of the US and that is one of his favorite days of his life. He always speaks about it with pride and joy and so much thankfulness because he was given an opportunity to get out of a really tough situation and set himself up and set up his family who eventually joined him. I think there's an uncomfortable balance of feelings of, you know, thankfulness and appreciation for the country and the people that he met and the families that helped raise him and like all these amazing people. But then also these feelings of isolation, discrimination that was faced, and then also kind of feeling like another person. My family is so thankful for the things that we're able to do because my dad came over to the US. I think, for him, one of the things is that his view is ever changing and not in a bad way. It's based on his experiences, based on the things that have happened. I always appreciate his willingness to listen and his willingness to hear other people.
REFLECTIONS
What are your hopes for the future?
I learn more about my family every time I hang out with them. Whether it's finding out that my dad loved chasing chickens when he was younger and trying to catch them to eat them, although I don't think he was successful. Or finding his cousins who live in Hawai'i and being able to go visit them and reminisce about what happened 30, 40, 50 years ago. I think that's one of the coolest things is that there's so much culture, there's so much history, there's so much story that I'm continuing to learn about every day. One of the biggest things is asking my dad to write this down because it's so important and so valuable. Also, no matter where this country is going, I think holding onto a little bit of hope is super helpful. I think about my dad eating four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because that's all he could eat for dinner. And I think about him and what this turned into and being able to see how my dad has provided for my family.
Another thing is traditions. A fun tradition that we continue to do is exchange Lunar New Year envelopes. I think those traditions that we hold as a family, hopefully we'll carry on when I have kids and when all my cousins have kids. And then the last thing is having joy. My dad has had so much joy in his life and seeing him go through all the things he did and his whole family, I see the joy in them. That's something I want to continue to possess and pass on to everyone I meet.
