My mom randomly stumbled across this beautiful photo by @rdepardon in a Facebook group dedicated to photographs of Saigon before 1975. She was shocked to recognize the two women in the cyclo as her own mother and sister, taken in 1972.
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My grandma died while trying to flee Saigon after the communists took over. The details of her death are unknown. She took her children to the port of Vũng Tàu to escape, then went back for my mom’s younger brother who’d been captured by the communists. Her last words to my mom were, “I have to go back. I can’t leave Khánh behind.” My mom watched her walk away on a small dirt road and thought, “Look closely and take it all in because it’ll be the last time you see her.” She wore a floral top and black pants, carried a big brown purse, and her hair was in a small, low bun. My mom watched her leave until she was completely out of sight. My grandma never looked back.
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That was nearly 50 years ago, but it wasn’t until last year that the tragedy of losing this brave, resilient woman I’ll never meet finally hit me. I was having lunch with my parents at the Lion Plaza food court when my mom described what the back of my grandma’s hair looked like as she walked down that dirt road. I burst into tears and couldn’t stop, decades of unfelt grief rushing through me. In typical Vietnamese fashion, my parents quickly looked away and pretended to be too fascinated by their food to notice the tears and snot running down my face. My mom may have slid a crumpled up napkin across the table while avoiding eye contact, but I’m not sure. 🤣
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I’ve never had a single photo of my grandma. She was always a somewhat mythical figure to me, so it was a true miracle to discover this photo during a time in my life that I feel so desperate to connect with her and know more. The universe gifted me this precious snapshot of her life to show me that she was a real person who carried about her daily life on the same earth, under the same sky and moon and stars as I am today. We are connected.
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PS. My aunt is alive and well with fierce eyebrows still at 74 years old.
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PPS. This photograph is featured in @rdepardon ’s stunning collection of photos, Adieu Saigon
Happy Anniversary to my fave ex @marburg even tho we broke up 250 years ago and the most recent pics I have of us together are from divorce court. I love you forever and you can’t stop me from thinking you’re cute!! 💖💖💖
I’m 46 and feeling so loved today! 🎂 Just realized that if I’m lucky enough to live to my 90s, then I’m already halfway to dead 😆☠️ But oddly I’m actually pretty excited that my impending death has inspired me to live my life with intention and make every day count! 💖
Look who’s back from Spring Break! 🏝️Our School Daze glittering matte-to-sparkle liquid lip colors are back in class! 📚
🧡 Teacher’s Pet
💚 Dress Code
🩶 Dropout
#sugarpill
Despite having not accomplished any of the goals mentioned in my last post - not a single bead has been crafted nor a stitch of clothing sewn - life’s been good! Well I did finally hit my goal of running 6 miles, but then I never ran again after that 😅 I’ve spent most of my time doing food rescue and distro, preparing and distributing around 1,000 hot meals a month! 😳 I also saw a lot of pretty skies. A few days ago I mentioned wanting a job critiquing historic mansions. You all suggested I just make reels of my old house-creeping adventures. That sounds fun, so okay, I will! But what I actually meant was I wanna start a service where people pay me to hang out inside their 100-year-old mansions and give my ignorant, uneducated, unhelpful critiques like, “Ew” “I love this” and “How dare you” and everyone is so grateful for my opinion that if the house is cute they beg me to live in the turret as their live-in princess. Duties include opening the window every morning so birds can fly in and land on my finger. So if you hear of a job like this let me know 🏰
My face 🤡, followed by things that made me happy in November/December! 👯♀️🐶🍰 2025 was super good to me, but I’m hoping 2026 will be the year I finally force myself to slow down and take some time for myself. More running, sewing, crafting, and creeping on old mansions in 2026 pleeeez!
New hair by @chrissiearia + Sep/Oct photo dump 🌈 + PSA
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With all the uncertainty surrounding the status of SNAP benefits, a lot of people are asking what they can do to help. Food banks are overwhelmed and need your support more than ever!! While food donations are of course always appreciated, the best way to help your local food bank is by donating money or volunteering your time. Most food banks already get free or deeply discounted surplus food from grocery stores, farms, and food rescue programs. What they desperately need is cash and helping hands. Without government funding, food banks are struggling to cover massive overhead costs like rent, electricity ($6k–$11k a month just to keep the fridges running ☠️), storage, and gas for transporting food to people in need. If you have money or time to spare, please consider supporting some of my fave volunteer-run nonprofits: @laspacefood@elimpantry@operationhealthyhearts@every_day_action ! 💖💖💖
