New Beginnings

some time before my 5th birthday my dad finally gets the proper documents through to get all 8 of us along with a cousin on a plane to America. Dalls, TX to be exact, where his parents had settled in ten years earlier (long story).

I remember falling in love with the little smuckers jam packages on the airplane. My mother asked for extras for me seeing that I liked them so much, I'm sure she enjoyed them too as we had never had such luxuries in our simple farm life. I had so many that I remember throwing up in a brown paper sack. The flight attendents were all so wonderful and sweet. I'm sure they saw a family full stock of such adorables coming to america to pursue the dream as such a beautiful story, espicially knowing that their country had so much to do with the changes that were brought on Viet Nam.

Before we took off on the plane my family had organized a panoramic photo of the extended family. Remember, we're catholics, so there must have been at least 50 people in this photo. Right before the shoot I was cursed with not being able to find my sandals. My dad was so angry with me. Frustrated, he ended up holding me in his arms, shoe-less. Haha. What a journey.

I never asked to come to the U.S. I guess being 4 going on 5, I didn't really have much say.

Saigon Oi

There's a song my father played sometimes called "Oh, Saigon" (or "Saigon Oi" in our language). It's a ode to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known and continually referred to as Saigon. These cherished photos are from the Motherland.



Alot of these photos are of my older brother Rocky (Formerly known as Sage...and before that by his (however unfortunate) birth name, Dung. Here's Rocky at what appears to be an amusement park, historical center, or petting zoo.



























Here Rocky has arm shouldering a cousin. He insists having not picked out his wardrobe for the photo.










Here Rocky poses in his overalls with my mother.

Brothers in Arms, Survivors of the Vietnam War.
Standing left to right: unknown, my dad, Uncle Dat, unknown, unknown, unknown, Uncle "The" (far right)
Squatting left to right are three unknown family friends with Rocky looking happy in his extended fraternity.

Vietnam Experiences Unfiled

So my best friend and I (who I met 18 years later in college) were born overseas in the same town in the same hospital, Bien Hoa, Ho Nai. I'll have to put in a map. pretty neat. They say it's a small world. That's evidence of the truth in that saying there.

So I was born March 10th in 1980 with a humungus mole on my right eyebrow. It appears a little smaller now since my head has gotten bigger but apparantly it was so hideous my grandmother took to a local remedy in shrimp peels and seaweed. She used this concoction to rub on my mole in hopes that it would disappear. It's still there. and the seaweed acted like a chia-pet agent, I have to constantly trim it to keep it presentable.

I don't remember much else about being born. My mother tells us that with each of her (six) kids, she had a different craving during her pregnancy. Sugar cane for my eldest brother. Mangoes for my older sister. I was the third child and she swears that she had no craving at all. I think that's because I was all that she ever wanted in life. The first two were just practice babies. It's true, she never outright says it, but everyone knows that I am her favorite, even with the narly mole.

I'll have to ask my mom more about the details of my early days. I can just imagine though. After the third child, wouldn't any sane person say no more, this hurts too much. But my mother, god bless her, is one tenacious lady, and I was blessed with three younger siblings.

other stories from vietnam
- three person motorcycle adventure get away involving local police.