My father was born and raised in a middle class family. After the era of wars and the new transition of government in our country, Vietnam, my father's family managed to have a restaurant business. The restaurant business was very prosper and busy. It opened from early in the morning until late at night, everyday of the week, serving the industrial workers. It earned the family good income during that period of time.
My mother's family however, was less fortunate. My mother had six siblings and she was the oldest. When my mother was fifteen, her father got very ill and passed away. My grandma was struggling and she worked very hard to feed her kids. Despite her big efforts and elastic strength that my grandma had, it was still not enough to fulfil her kids' needs. At the time, my father's family lived in the same village as my mother's. My father's mother needed a helper for her busy restaurant business. She asked my mom's mother for her son to marry my mother, so that my mom's family will not have to suffer as much. My grandma did not have any better choice and thought it was a good solution for the current situation. Therefore, she accepted the offer for my mom's marriage.
Shortly after the proposal, my mother became a wife and a new daughter in-law. Unlike what my grandma expected, other than being a wife and a daughter in-law, my mother also became a maid to my dad's family. She worked in my dad's family restaurant kitchen all day long, and continued the work at home as server to my dad's entire family. They even made my mom work during her pregnancy. Her daily routine went on for years until my dad's mother passed away. My dad's family restaurant business was no longer in business. They sold it to one of my dad's relatives. Not too long followed, my dad also passed away. Then, my mom and I got kicked out of my dad's family. My mom was very sad, but she had to be strong consciously to take care of me and herself. She decided not to go back to her own family, instead she brought me to reside in another city and made a new living there.
At the new city, same as any other city in the country, everyone was still trying to adapt to the new government system. We did not have the choice to do what we desired. Therefore, my mother grew tired and had no hope with the circumstances. She thought of a way to flee the country, seeking for better life and opportunities. After long awaited with the hope to flee the country, we were fortunate enough to seek refuge in America. We came to America with empty handed. We did not have any money and did not know any English. However, my mom managed to find a day time job and to learn English in the evening. She did not make much money at her new job, but she was very happy with it. She enjoyed her new life, thought she had turned her life around, but bad luck did not spare her. She was diagnosed with liver cancer and kidney failure. Due to her symptom was not detected soon enough, it became incurable. Her Doctors predicted that she got about a year to live, but she did not live as Doctors predicted.
I was full of tears every time I thought of my mother. I cried for her because she never had a good life. I often prayed that my mother will have a better life if she reincarnated.
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