She really did like putting me in bonnets.
For those of you who have met my mother, she can be one of the most sarcastic, say-it-as-it-is, and dramatic person ever. Ha! What a way to start a letter to you mother, but again, if you knew her, she would be proud of these facts. She rarely hugs, kisses, says I love you, but I know, of the many people in my life, she unconditionally loves me, despite all my flaws, including the temper I inherited from her. But beneath this tough exterior, she is the most compassionate, caring, and generous woman around. She donates my father hard earned money all the time to people who need it, she secretly adores the kids she teaches but would never say that, and she has the biggest heart for those who suffer.
I have definitely never forgotten how hard my parents have worked to give us everything, everything we needed and everything we truly wanted. My mom was put in jail multiple times by the communist before escaping Vietnam, and then waiting in refugee camps until her chance at the nation of freedom and dreams. My parents worked different shifts to make ends meet, and even lived in a car for a while. My mom says they were so short on food that when I was born, she would eat half of her hospital tray and save the rest for my father when he came to visit. It was the 80′s recession, and no one would hire a non-English speaking Vietnamese, blamed for a war that the US did not want to fight. My father was a janitor by night, and he tells me how many times he got spit in the face. My heart breaks when I hear that…I am born an American, am proud to be one. But how ashamed I am of such an unAmerican act.
Mommy!
Needless to say, my mom has always been there for us, albeit yelling. She has kept me grounded by never applauding any of my accolades, though she’s secretly proud of all of her children’s accomplishment. She always gives me the best of everything, asks nothing for herself. She doesn’t believe in any holidays, and never wants a gift. Well at least she has returned everything I have ever gotten her. She has taught me life is never fair, to save for the rainy day, and her biggest gift of all: education. They didn’t allow us to have jobs, because school was always more important. We didn’t have to pay for our first car, my college books, my cell phone bills. Though all of us are money smart, my parents knew education was the biggest factor. The expectation was to do better, be better, and in the end, take care of your family. And for that, I love my parents with all my heart. And to my mom, I can only hope to be as good of a mother. Without the yelling 
