I always liked lotus. It’s the Vietnamese national flower, and it blooms from mud. Lotus reminds me of strength, resilience, beauty against all odds.

At first, he was an invisible beast that drove mom crazy. I remember seeing mom struggle with nausea for about 2 weeks straight, completely bed-ridden. I had never seen her in so much pain.

Your mother will always tell you, “Darlin’, it is okay to cry in the airports.”

Thrice a week for five years — be it rainy or sunny, holiday or school day, busy or free, grandfather would drive me, on his rustic, old-fashioned bicycle, to violin classes.