When my sister told me that my mother was gone, I did not beleive. As I closed my eyes that night, I can see my mother.
She was with me 40 years ago, waiting at a bus stop in front of Van Khoa University in Vietnam. As she look at the students, in and out of the university, she told me "One day you will go to college like these students". As I graduate from the University of Hawaii, she was there to wish me luck. She was there that night when I woke up after a long sleep, I saw her still sitting in front of the Bhudah statue praying for my brothers' safe escape from Communist Vietnam.
My mother grew up in hard times but she did what she could so we have a better life than her. My parent left their families, their property to migrate to South Vietnam when their country was divided by war. My parent sold what they have then borrow some to send some of us to the states. These are not all I have to thank my mother. I thank my mom for her love and I thank her for teaching me to love my sibblings, my family.
Last but not least I thank my mom for teaching me dedication. For more than 10 years through my mother illness, every single day my two sisters, An & Catherine who stay in Hawaii with my mom, have cared for my mom, have fed her, have bath her and to me this is dedication and love.
We will tell our children about our mother so that they know her name, who she was and what she means to us. They will know she was our mother, she was their grand mother, and she is now our ancestor.
Dear mom,
We love you and you are always with us in our heads and in our hearts.