My parent’s dreams are also my dreams; they deserve the world and all I want is for their dreams to come true. The only people that can make you feel loved is your family, no matter the distance, you will always be on their mind and heart, take my words. This memoir is not only an important moment from my life, but it is also considered a life lesson to be shared amongst others.

Bright sun rays gleaming onto our skin. Our family of four is currently heading home from Texas. As my mother scrolls through her emails, simply just one email stopped her in a heartbeat. As my brother is driving, from the backseat of the car, mother says “Guys, they found my mom..” through tears of joy and happiness, my brother and I instantly looked each other in the eye and tears began streaming down our cheeks. Immediately, my heart begins to beat rapidly, my emotions are scattered. I was in shock!! Who knew this day would ever come? The only person who always had hope and faith was my beloved mother, she deserved all this greatness that had come to her. Minutes and minutes had passed by, as we continue to call every person possible to inform the good news. Growing up, everyone knew that my mother was adopted and it meant a lot to us. This was a miracle. This was unexpected, so at this point, everyone in the car continued to cry. It was a sigh of relief.

Back in 2015, my mother had submitted her documents to Như chưa hề có cuộc chia ly (NCHCCCL) organization located in Kon Tum, Vietnam. However, my grandma, aunts and uncles living in Vietnam had also submitted documents to the same organization. This only took us at least 3 years on hold. My mother then got a verification email, verifying her documents and had asked her to mail her DNA hair strands to them. Moving forward, just recently my mother had mailed her DNA hair strands in order to match up with her lost mother. The only thing my family had to do is believe that we will find her. Each and every day, growing up, my mother had never mentioned anything about her mom, I was clueless. I always thought that she was adopted and that we had no way in searching for her mother. I thought it was too late. One normal afternoon, I had asked her about what happened, I was so curious. She had told me that she had gone missing when she was a little girl and never really knew who her birth mom was. My mother’s life was fairly different growing up, I never knew how it felt to be separated from your own mother, that idea just hurts.

“Mom..be honest with me..how have you dealt with things without a mother throughout your entire childhood?” I questioned.

“I felt sad, I ask myself how come everyone has a mother and father but I don’t” Mom says.

“Are my parents even alive?”

“Do I even have any siblings?”

“I always had a feeling my parents are still alive somewhere in this world.. and it came true.”

“Your grandpa, however, passed away 12 years ago, so I never even met my own father, years living..that is something apart of my life that will never change.”

My mom’s words touched me deeply inside. This truly showed me how strong she really is as a person. As my stomach begins to tighten, my throat is dry and I strongly held in my tears. I will never forget this conversation.

Present day, my mom had flown out of the country to meet her mother after 43 years of going missing. The organization had a meeting on planning a day and time for both sides to meet at last. Sadly I was not there to support my mother every step of the way, but from my heart to hers, I was truly happy for her. While my mother was in Vietnam, I continued to go to school every day and my mom was on a my mind. I was so anxious and I eagerly wanted to FaceTime my grandma for the first time, I wanted to hear her story and I wanted to see her lovely face.

Oct. 5, 2018 exactly at 7 am, before school was when I met my grandma for the very first time, I was in shock. We had introduced each other and I was ready to ask questions. I had asked her what had happened to my mother when she was little. My grandma had told me that all the kids were out on a farm field and my mother had run away at age 3. She was lost.

My grandma and grandpa had spent days, months and years trying to search for my mother, they could not find her at all. They come from a low-class living standard so they had searched for loose change underneath furniture, finding anyone and anything to help them find my mother. Hearing this from my grandma, truly touched my heart, I feel so sorry for everyone, and I am still speechless that they have found each other. Tears continue streaming down my face before school, constantly thinking about my family throughout the day. I met the entire family, everyone was excited and happy.

This story truly is shaping me into the kind of individual I am today, from being grateful for everything in your life to putting yourself into other people’s shoes. I want my story to reflect upon other lives and send a message to the ones that do not have faith in any situation. If you have hope and a positive mindset in life, good things will come to good people. It is never too late for anything. This was truly a life touching miracle.