I hope it’s in the genes

My mom turned 70 last week (shhh, don’t tell her I told you).  For those of you who know her, you will find this hard to believe.  I can only hope I age as well as her.  I even asked my dad, “Are you SURE it’s her 70th birthday?!”  But indeed it is, so we decided to throw her a surprise birthday party last weekend.  Of course, my dad emailed me literally a week and a half prior asking for help to plan it.  Come again??  But with the help of my sister-in-law, Raena, we pulled it together, had a nice turn out, and the party was a success. 

This is my sister-in-law in the back of the car on the way to the restaurant:

What?  You can’t see her?  Can’t you see her hand back there?  Yup, that’s her.  No seriously, here we are:

And a close up of a little of the decor:

 

Unfortunately, though I managed to get tons of pictures of decorations and myself with my sister-in-law, I failed to get a good one of my mom….duh.  But let me just say, I find this woman amazing, inspirational, caring and thoughtful, with a little bit of strict, Asian parenting mixed in!  Thank goodness I’m not a kid anymore!  Kidding…sort of.  What makes my mom so amazing?

When we were stationed in Korea, she would bring the military gate guards hot chocolate on cold winter days.

The moving company employees would always get sodas and pizzas from her (after all, she had to bribe them to take good care of her precious furniture!  ;-))

She swore me to secrecy (total mother-daughter bonding moment) when she wrecked the car and didn’t want to tell Dad right away.  Little did she know, the front fender stuck out about a whole foot from the side of the car.  Just a tad difficult to hide.

Seriously though, my mom always puts other people first.  She is thoughtful, reliable, helpful and caring.  She has always been there with me to celebrate good times and to get me through bad times.  She came every single week I had chemo treatment or a surgery to watch the kids.  I’ve never heard her complain or talk negatively about other people.  When she and my dad married in Vietnam, she left her family and country to be with him and start a family.  Shortly after is when Saigon fell and communism took over.  For 18 years she was unable to see or speak to her family, including her own mother and father.  Finally when I was 17, her entire family (13 of them) were granted Visas to come to the United States and she was once again reunited with her family.  She selflessly helped them all get on their feet, get jobs, get a house, and get in school.  I am proud to have cousins who have graduated from great colleges, started wonderful careers and started families of their own.  All would not have been possible if it weren’t for my mom (and dad, of course).  She is an amazing woman.

Are there any amazing women in your life?  Email us and share their story.  We’d love to feature them!