Mom was born and raised in Saigon, Vietnam. She was the oldest of 5 children; being the oldest she bore the lion’s share of the responsibility, but, being a female, very little of the respect.

Mom had a difficult upbringing in a war torn, divided country. From the time that she was a little girl, she felt a strong sense of responsibility to take care of her family. Her father, my grandfather, fought in the French Army, which would become an issue later after the fall of Saigon.

After mom and dad met and married, they had two children, my brother, John, and me. Our family left the country in 1972, when I was 2 months old, for Hawaii; it was during that time that Saigon was overtaken by the communist regime. Despite my father’s efforts to extricate mom’s family, they were stranded in Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City. Out of fear for her family’s life due to her father’s allegiance to the French and her being married to an American, she ceased communication with her family. This was devastating for mom who cried every night fearing for their safety.

Years later when she got word that it was safe to correspond, mom continued her mission in life to provide for her parents and siblings. I grew up watching mom work odd jobs as a seamstress, waitress and later becoming a business owner opening her own restaurant and wholesale business. She sent money to Vietnam every month, religiously, every single year of my life, supporting her parents and siblings to the point that they were all able to buy their own homes and start their own businesses (yes, the country’s economic policies became capitalist over time).

Today, many of my mother’s nieces and nephews are college educated and work all over the world. This, the result of my mother’s hard work, love and sacrifices.

I will always respect and admire my mom for this. This is an example she set for me that you don’t see much in this day and age. I have to give my father props too. He took care of our family so she could take care of hers.