Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the US, which is also, for many indigenous communities, a day of mourning. As someone who knows both grief and gratitude (especially in this time of the year) and who is working to better come alongside my indigenous siblings, as a migrant settler, I have spent the last few days holding […]
Tag: Grief
Be Gentle
There is an oft-cited quote about kindness or gentleness that reminds us that everyone is fighting a battle that we may not know anything about. This quote often comes to me on February 3. February 3, 1995, I lost my mother in a car accident. Losing my mother, in more ways that I can say, […]
Handle with Care
I want to start this post by saying, I am fine, doing relatively well considering the season, and doing remarkably well considering the time on the clock of the world. And also, I am present this morning to the continued tenacity of grief and fragility of “wellness.” Grief, for me, is an ever-present longing for […]
Making Space for the Fullness of Humanity
Today is the third day of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention (for me, at least). It is my busiest day, with activities related to the Asian/Asian American Caucus (#AsianAmAF) and a presentation with my dear friend, Chanea. Today is also the day that, 86 years ago, my mother was born […]
Legacies of love
29 years ago, my mother died unexpectedly in a car accident. A year ago, I was interviewing for a job that would be a significant turning point in my academic career and bring enormous change to my personal life. Although the moments where I can recollect my mother’s physical touch and even her voice become […]
Transition
I am in a long period of transition. It is extremely taxing and exhausting. I think this is because this transition is transformational, pushing myself beyond who I know myself to be, which in turn forces me to reckon with all that I have been. In that “all I have been” space are many moments […]
Family, Grace, and Thanks
Today, my mother would have been 85 years old. She is eternally 56, but I often think, and always on Thanksgiving, particularly when it falls on her birthday, about how my life would be different if she were still here, how we would celebrate her, how we would celebrate with her. I feel (more) acutely […]
Space
May is a beautiful month for me. May is also a hard month for me. This year, as it has been for the last eight years, my daughter’s birthday and Mothers Day are within the same week, with the end of the academic year the following week. I am tired. I often wonder if there […]
Waves
Today, it has been hard to stay present. We had planned to get together with my in-laws to make dumplings for the new year. Then I woke up this morning to the news of the Monterey Park shootings and it felt like the world froze. I protect myself from grief. I am good at surviving. […]
Monterey Park
Growing up, as a Taiwanese American in a predominantly white Northern LA County suburb in the 1980s & 90s, outside of my family, Monterey Park WAS my connection to Asian American identity and the Asian diaspora in America. My single mother was not a fan of freeway driving so we only went to Monterey Park […]