Andrea, this post is so deeply moving, the photos of the recipe book and the precious pearls, and your parents on their honeymoon. What courage you all had/have! xx
ps - my paternal great-grandmother came to New York from Ireland in steerage with my grandfather (who was 3 months old at the time) and twin-daughters who were 4 years old. My great-grandfather had come earlier to set up an apartment on 10th avenue in NYC — So she was alone on the ship. Her name was Delia and the boat she was on was the Carpathia, which years later would come to the aid of the Titanic survivors.
Jolene, thank you for taking note of my words and story. I don’t know if I would have been as brave as my parents. I suppose circumstances dictate our courage.
Your great grandmother traveled with two children on a long voyage to an unknown new life. That sea crossing was never easy. And thank goodness she was not on the Titanic. -oxo
The grit and courage! My great grandmother sailed in 1902 and 10 years after — the Titanic sinking. My grandfather always told us with great pride that he’d been an infant on the voyage in 1902. So many stories from our families, Andrea! xx
Wow, True Grit. A woman alone on that voyage. Before women's suffrage in America. Your great grandmother displayed incredible determination to find a better life for herself.
Given all the mess our country is in, it’s important to remember that the US was created by and for immigrants, many of whom would be considered illegal and undesirable today. And yet they truly made this country great.
Andrea, your account of these days really brings the story of this time to life for me, and makes it so personal. It prompted me to do some reading about the history of Vietnam and the war. What I find somewhat surprising after reading of the history between these two countries is how welcoming tourism is to Americans in Vietnam.
In terms of emigrating, one side of my family came from Armenia, my grandfather coming in 1910, 5 years before the Armenian genocide by the Turks. I’m not sure what prompted him to come to America, but the story is that he traveled by donkey from his village to Istanbul, where he left by sea. I imagine he packed lightly! He died when I was 7, so I never had a chance to hear of his travels. My grandmother came in the 1920s, in an arranged marriage and died in childbirth with my father, so we never knew much of her story.
Incredibly true, Maia. Fifty years later, the animosity is much, much lower. Over half of Vietnam's population was born after 1975 so their memories are not of the war, though there was plenty of deprivation if you were alive in the 1970s and 1980s. The internet makes us see one another a little better.
I've wondered about your family's history with the Armenian genocide. Your grandfather likely sensed things were not going to turn out well. WWI started in 1914. The good thing is you know when and how your grandparents came to America.
Thank you for this. It brought back memories. I asked my paternal Grandmother why her family and her husband's family came to the US. She told me this was the hardest question I'd ever asked her. Her family and her husband's family left their home countries because it was terrible. They never talked about the home country or why they left. Grandmother explained: "We only ever talked about today and tomorrow. The past was too painful."
It is difficult to discuss that painful past but maybe someday, they will feel comfortable to share a little more. Knowing you are interested is a good start, I imagine.
Andrea, your family was fortunate that the boat escape option was derailed, and you all were able to shift to plane. I’m thankful that the U.S. did the right thing and opened the door to Vietnamese and Hmong emigrants. The Afghans did not fare as well.
I grew up in earthquake country, so I always have an emergency go bag ready—one for me and one for my cat with documents, meds, cash, litter and litter box, food, water. I’d also throw in clothes, photos, external backup hard drives, device chargers. All those I can put my hands on immediately. If I were emigrating rather than fleeing, I would take more time to plan what other things I would take.
My family wasn’t part of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century great migrations. My dad’s side came in the mid eighteenth century from England. My mom’s side came from Germany in the mid nineteenth century. They were all farmers.
Thank you for sharing your story and the beautiful photos. Your mom’s recipe book is amazing.
Ann, earthquakes, tornadoes, fires -- seems like a "go"bag is the way to go these days. Smart of you to include backup drives. I just think of the Cloud as my backup.
Imagine coming to American centuries ago. Your family pioneered to a certain extent. We have many modern things nowadays that we take for granted. I think about how not long ago, electricity wasn't around and I'd have to call it a day much sooner than I do now!
Thank you for all you've done for Vietnam and keep doing too. It means alot, Ann.
Thanks for sharing these fantastic photos and your family’s story. Yes refugee stories remain so important! While there have been cutbacks Canada continues to accept many refugees annually through private group sponsorship. Maybe this unusual sponsorship process started with Vietnamese in the 1970s, then continued to Syrians and Afghans more recently. Many “regular” Canadians have been involved in helping refugees - and of course many Canadians were originally refugees. I have been thinking a lot in recent years about my paternal grandparents (and great-grandparents) who fled Nazi Germany to move to the USA, and then my parents decided to move to Canada during the Vietnam War. I don’t think my grandparents were able to bring much, but somehow my great-grandparents managed to ship a lot of (heavy dark) furniture from Germany to a cousin in Sweden, and they shipped it to the USA eventually. Now my aunt has and uses the furniture. My parents had friends drive them from the USA to Canada, but somehow they brought some special wood bookcases built by a friend to store 12” LPs. I used those record cubes for many years. I really didn’t think furniture would be a big priority when arranging to leave your life behind, but maybe if you can find a way then it would make their new place feel more like “Home”. P.s. my mother also brought a waffle iron! I guess she didn’t want to buy a replacement in Canada.
Canada continues to be a generous country to newcomers. May that never change.
Amazing that your grandparents were able to bring furniture out of Nazi Germany. Wow. They much have really treasured the collection. It's great that you've been able to use the items passed down from your grandparents. That's rare.
Your mom and dad didn't know what they'd find in Canada. Maybe waffles were not a thing there then? Or, your folks really like waffles!
I agree - I truly hope Canada continues to be open to newcomers. After all, everyone here beyond the indigenous peoples are in effect newcomers to Canada!
Thanks for sparking these conversations with your family photos and memories.
Thank you for your deeply moving narrative. At a time like today, it’s so important to appreciate how precious it is our ability to be in this country that has fought so hard for its democracy.
My maternal grandmother arrived at Ellis Island with a meat grinder that weighed a ton. We always joked that it was made of lead. By all reports, she wasn't an enthusiastic cook (she died while my mother was in her teens), & she never explained her choice. I doubt my mother ever made chopped liver without it. It imparted magic to my mother's good but not outstanding cooking.
Your grandma traveled with a meat grinder???? WOW, that's commitment. She must have wanted to ensure she had good sausages or something in America. Or maybe she could start a business like my mom wanted to do. People wanted to hit the ground running in a new country like America. Your grandma wanted to succeed and find her way here. I'm sorry she did not live long enough to realize more opportunities but she did leave a legacy in your family and you.
Andrea, thank you for sharing your heartfelt family story with us. I'm an 1990s kid so I can't imagine the fear and anxiety back then.
Your mother is so resourceful. Reading her cooking notes, she must be a passionate and skilled cook. I like some Western and Chinese inspired recipes (mushroom merringue and Cantonese steamed fish) as well as nostalgic food (phong tom - I don't think it is that popular now, much less seeing someone making it at home). I also like to sew clothes (self-taught) but to be able to make a living as a dressmaker is nothing short of amazing.
Trang, women were made differently during my mother and your grandmother's generation. They were solid, resourceful and steely. My mom says she never sweated in Saigon (something I don't believe is true). She's basically saying that it's important to always be a lady!
My mom was a self-taught dressmaker. She looked at western clothing catalogues when she was young and figured out how to make them. I'd just throw in the towel and buy the stuff!
Andrea, thank you for sharing these personal photographs and your memories of that time. How challenging that time must have been for your parents as well as for you and your siblings.
My wife and I emigrated to Portugal from the US a year ago. I brought decades of journals and boxes of photographs that I had created, developed and printed. We brought the documents we needed for immigration and two suitcases of clothes. Importantly, we also brought our two greyhounds, who made the trip with us.
How wonderful that you were able to resettle with the things you need including the greyhounds. That is a great fortune. Thank you for being part of PTFS!
My paternal great-grandparents came here in one of the big waves of Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. My maternal great-grandparents came here from England and Ireland. I don't know what any of them brought with them except for the memorized family recipes. I believe that they probably came here to improve their lot in life, like so many other immigrants.
I thank you for asking what I would take if I emigrated. I hadn't thought about it before but I will now. I assume that the United States is still a great country to you, but it isn't to me and I'm thinking of emigrating.
However, packing and choosing what to take might be easier for me than for others, because I have sadly lost everything I owned more than once. I'm more used to starting all over with nothing, and I'm not as attached to my possessions as people who have lived in one place for a long time would be.
Unfortunately I don’t know what the majority of my ancestors brought to this continent but I do know that choosing what to bring past the basics would be extremely difficult.
Andrea, this post is so deeply moving, the photos of the recipe book and the precious pearls, and your parents on their honeymoon. What courage you all had/have! xx
ps - my paternal great-grandmother came to New York from Ireland in steerage with my grandfather (who was 3 months old at the time) and twin-daughters who were 4 years old. My great-grandfather had come earlier to set up an apartment on 10th avenue in NYC — So she was alone on the ship. Her name was Delia and the boat she was on was the Carpathia, which years later would come to the aid of the Titanic survivors.
Jolene, thank you for taking note of my words and story. I don’t know if I would have been as brave as my parents. I suppose circumstances dictate our courage.
Your great grandmother traveled with two children on a long voyage to an unknown new life. That sea crossing was never easy. And thank goodness she was not on the Titanic. -oxo
The grit and courage! My great grandmother sailed in 1902 and 10 years after — the Titanic sinking. My grandfather always told us with great pride that he’d been an infant on the voyage in 1902. So many stories from our families, Andrea! xx
Wow, True Grit. A woman alone on that voyage. Before women's suffrage in America. Your great grandmother displayed incredible determination to find a better life for herself.
Given all the mess our country is in, it’s important to remember that the US was created by and for immigrants, many of whom would be considered illegal and undesirable today. And yet they truly made this country great.
Absolutely, Nancy.
Andrea, your account of these days really brings the story of this time to life for me, and makes it so personal. It prompted me to do some reading about the history of Vietnam and the war. What I find somewhat surprising after reading of the history between these two countries is how welcoming tourism is to Americans in Vietnam.
In terms of emigrating, one side of my family came from Armenia, my grandfather coming in 1910, 5 years before the Armenian genocide by the Turks. I’m not sure what prompted him to come to America, but the story is that he traveled by donkey from his village to Istanbul, where he left by sea. I imagine he packed lightly! He died when I was 7, so I never had a chance to hear of his travels. My grandmother came in the 1920s, in an arranged marriage and died in childbirth with my father, so we never knew much of her story.
Incredibly true, Maia. Fifty years later, the animosity is much, much lower. Over half of Vietnam's population was born after 1975 so their memories are not of the war, though there was plenty of deprivation if you were alive in the 1970s and 1980s. The internet makes us see one another a little better.
I've wondered about your family's history with the Armenian genocide. Your grandfather likely sensed things were not going to turn out well. WWI started in 1914. The good thing is you know when and how your grandparents came to America.
Thank you for this. It brought back memories. I asked my paternal Grandmother why her family and her husband's family came to the US. She told me this was the hardest question I'd ever asked her. Her family and her husband's family left their home countries because it was terrible. They never talked about the home country or why they left. Grandmother explained: "We only ever talked about today and tomorrow. The past was too painful."
It is difficult to discuss that painful past but maybe someday, they will feel comfortable to share a little more. Knowing you are interested is a good start, I imagine.
This is a beautiful remembrance of your family's journey. Thanks for sharing it.
Thank you for being here, Helene.
Andrea, your family was fortunate that the boat escape option was derailed, and you all were able to shift to plane. I’m thankful that the U.S. did the right thing and opened the door to Vietnamese and Hmong emigrants. The Afghans did not fare as well.
I grew up in earthquake country, so I always have an emergency go bag ready—one for me and one for my cat with documents, meds, cash, litter and litter box, food, water. I’d also throw in clothes, photos, external backup hard drives, device chargers. All those I can put my hands on immediately. If I were emigrating rather than fleeing, I would take more time to plan what other things I would take.
My family wasn’t part of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century great migrations. My dad’s side came in the mid eighteenth century from England. My mom’s side came from Germany in the mid nineteenth century. They were all farmers.
Thank you for sharing your story and the beautiful photos. Your mom’s recipe book is amazing.
Ann, earthquakes, tornadoes, fires -- seems like a "go"bag is the way to go these days. Smart of you to include backup drives. I just think of the Cloud as my backup.
Imagine coming to American centuries ago. Your family pioneered to a certain extent. We have many modern things nowadays that we take for granted. I think about how not long ago, electricity wasn't around and I'd have to call it a day much sooner than I do now!
Thank you for all you've done for Vietnam and keep doing too. It means alot, Ann.
Thanks for sharing these fantastic photos and your family’s story. Yes refugee stories remain so important! While there have been cutbacks Canada continues to accept many refugees annually through private group sponsorship. Maybe this unusual sponsorship process started with Vietnamese in the 1970s, then continued to Syrians and Afghans more recently. Many “regular” Canadians have been involved in helping refugees - and of course many Canadians were originally refugees. I have been thinking a lot in recent years about my paternal grandparents (and great-grandparents) who fled Nazi Germany to move to the USA, and then my parents decided to move to Canada during the Vietnam War. I don’t think my grandparents were able to bring much, but somehow my great-grandparents managed to ship a lot of (heavy dark) furniture from Germany to a cousin in Sweden, and they shipped it to the USA eventually. Now my aunt has and uses the furniture. My parents had friends drive them from the USA to Canada, but somehow they brought some special wood bookcases built by a friend to store 12” LPs. I used those record cubes for many years. I really didn’t think furniture would be a big priority when arranging to leave your life behind, but maybe if you can find a way then it would make their new place feel more like “Home”. P.s. my mother also brought a waffle iron! I guess she didn’t want to buy a replacement in Canada.
Canada continues to be a generous country to newcomers. May that never change.
Amazing that your grandparents were able to bring furniture out of Nazi Germany. Wow. They much have really treasured the collection. It's great that you've been able to use the items passed down from your grandparents. That's rare.
Your mom and dad didn't know what they'd find in Canada. Maybe waffles were not a thing there then? Or, your folks really like waffles!
Haha my parents did indeed like waffles!
I agree - I truly hope Canada continues to be open to newcomers. After all, everyone here beyond the indigenous peoples are in effect newcomers to Canada!
Thanks for sparking these conversations with your family photos and memories.
Thank you for your deeply moving narrative. At a time like today, it’s so important to appreciate how precious it is our ability to be in this country that has fought so hard for its democracy.
I cannot agree with you more. Thank you.
My maternal grandmother arrived at Ellis Island with a meat grinder that weighed a ton. We always joked that it was made of lead. By all reports, she wasn't an enthusiastic cook (she died while my mother was in her teens), & she never explained her choice. I doubt my mother ever made chopped liver without it. It imparted magic to my mother's good but not outstanding cooking.
Your grandma traveled with a meat grinder???? WOW, that's commitment. She must have wanted to ensure she had good sausages or something in America. Or maybe she could start a business like my mom wanted to do. People wanted to hit the ground running in a new country like America. Your grandma wanted to succeed and find her way here. I'm sorry she did not live long enough to realize more opportunities but she did leave a legacy in your family and you.
Andrea, thank you for sharing your heartfelt family story with us. I'm an 1990s kid so I can't imagine the fear and anxiety back then.
Your mother is so resourceful. Reading her cooking notes, she must be a passionate and skilled cook. I like some Western and Chinese inspired recipes (mushroom merringue and Cantonese steamed fish) as well as nostalgic food (phong tom - I don't think it is that popular now, much less seeing someone making it at home). I also like to sew clothes (self-taught) but to be able to make a living as a dressmaker is nothing short of amazing.
Trang, women were made differently during my mother and your grandmother's generation. They were solid, resourceful and steely. My mom says she never sweated in Saigon (something I don't believe is true). She's basically saying that it's important to always be a lady!
My mom was a self-taught dressmaker. She looked at western clothing catalogues when she was young and figured out how to make them. I'd just throw in the towel and buy the stuff!
I find myself thinking about this a lot, of late.
Andrea, thank you for sharing these personal photographs and your memories of that time. How challenging that time must have been for your parents as well as for you and your siblings.
My wife and I emigrated to Portugal from the US a year ago. I brought decades of journals and boxes of photographs that I had created, developed and printed. We brought the documents we needed for immigration and two suitcases of clothes. Importantly, we also brought our two greyhounds, who made the trip with us.
How wonderful that you were able to resettle with the things you need including the greyhounds. That is a great fortune. Thank you for being part of PTFS!
My paternal great-grandparents came here in one of the big waves of Italian immigrants in the late 19th century. My maternal great-grandparents came here from England and Ireland. I don't know what any of them brought with them except for the memorized family recipes. I believe that they probably came here to improve their lot in life, like so many other immigrants.
I thank you for asking what I would take if I emigrated. I hadn't thought about it before but I will now. I assume that the United States is still a great country to you, but it isn't to me and I'm thinking of emigrating.
However, packing and choosing what to take might be easier for me than for others, because I have sadly lost everything I owned more than once. I'm more used to starting all over with nothing, and I'm not as attached to my possessions as people who have lived in one place for a long time would be.
Good luck to you, Susan, on making a decision you feel is best for you.
Unfortunately I don’t know what the majority of my ancestors brought to this continent but I do know that choosing what to bring past the basics would be extremely difficult.
When we’re pushed, we know what to do. I hope so, anyway.
Thank you for sharing, Jolene!
This is such a beautiful story and post. Thank you for sharing. 💖
Thank you for seeing and taking it in, Elizabeth.