After living in the United States for 39 years with her green card, my mother finally became a citizen over the summer.
She didn’t make a big deal out of it, but it was huge to me. She’s never been a fan of tests. I think that was the main reason she never expressed interest in becoming a United States citizen. Now that my sister is living in Louisiana again, she was the one the convinced my mother to apply for citizenship. It also helped that my mother could take the test in her native language: Vietnamese. My sister became her translator and had to learn some new Vietnamese words in order to help facilitate the test.
I remember helping my father study for his citizenship test, which he took when I was in grade school. I think I was also learning American history in school so it felt like double the work. Back then he was only allowed to take the test in English.
I wonder what it felt for my parents to officially let go of their Vietnamese citizenship. The Vietnam that exists now is so different than the Vietnam they had to flee from in 1975. I wish they would talk more about their refugee and immigrant experiences. They never really spoke of it except for references here and there. As if that experience was not good for young ears or minds. Now that my sister and I are older, we realize how important it is to capture our family’s history.
My kids are curious about my parents’ past and passage to the United States. I encourage them to ask their Ông ngoại (grandfather) and Bà ngoại (grandmother) these questions directly. My parents have a soft spot for the grandkids (as they should).
How do you record your family’s history?
This post was inspired by the novel J by Howard Jacobson, about a world where collective memory has vanished and the past is a dangerous country, not to be talked about or visited. Join From Left to Write on November 20th as we discuss J. As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.
Wow, this is a great post. I too witnessed my dad become a citizen several years ago and I was so proud of him! But I never stopped to wonder how it felt for him to give us his Mexican citizenship. He was so proud of Mexico and the small down he came from. But he also loved the U.S. and was proud to have presented her with two sons who went into the United States Marine Corps and served their country. There is so much history in our parents and our past that we will never be able to know all of it. I know when my dad passed away last year that many of his siblings felt it was a good time to tell me childhood stories of my dad, some of them were funny, some of them were very sad. I wish I had known these stories while my dad was alive, but he never told us the bad, only the good.
I hope that someday my blog will be a way to have kept my history for my kids and grandkids. There are a lot of things in my blog that I would have shared with my mom and my sister but not necessarily with my kids but since they are on the blog it's out there for the whole world!
Great post Kim!
My recent post My Childhood Talent
It is such a gift you are giving your kids and grandkids to get these stories from your parents. I asked a billion questions of every relative older than me once I realized that they have great stories. Sad when that generation dies and all their stories are gone–unless we get them to tell their stories and record them!
My recent post A Thanksgiving Toast to My Blessings and My Struggles
Do your parents live nearby? A huge congratulations to your mother for passing her citizenship test. Isn't it funny how our parents tend to discount their accomplishments all the while praising us for our accomplishments! How wonderful for your mom that she has you to remind her that her accomplishments are valuable, meaningful and important. Lovely post Kim!
No, my parents live in Louisiana. We go down for the summer to spend time with them.