The Immigrants’ Daughter

When I think about my mother, I often want to cry.
One day, I hope she feels truly happy and not alone.

My name is Alisa Khieu, and I am the only daughter of two Vietnamese immigrants. As refugees, my parents had nothing, but they sacrificed a lot of themselves for the hopes of their children. It’s the immigrant story so many have heard of — all that parents do for their children, all their dreams for their kids to live a better life than they had.

And that’s really important to talk about. And while I could glorify their martyrdom and their children’s success from their hard work as the American Dream, the story I have for you is simpler than that.

This is my story as a child of two genuinely good human beings who sacrificed themselves again and again for people whom they love. What I learned, what destroyed me, and what made me again.

50% of kids go through this, so it’s okay.

In America, there’s this statistic that 50% of marriages end up in divorce. There are so many dysfunctional families out there, so if you fall in this category, you’re unfortunately not that special. But that doesn’t change your parent’s marriage from being something life-defining for you — it’s from here that many form their first definition of love, of conflict…