Letter to your ancestor

Dear great great grandpa Chi,

Times have changed since you have passed. Numerous events have occurred that have changed our family’s lives forever. Even though the family has gone through rough times since you left, we are still happy and thankful for what we have.
Since you passed, my grandpa moved from Guangzhou, China to Vietnam to escape Japanese attacks on Vietnam. He brought grandma along with him, and they fled across the border. They survived countless nights of hiding from Vietnamese soldiers, sleeping on the ground with thin blankets, and foraging for food. Both of them kept walking and walking day in and night out, not knowing where they would end up or even knowing whether or not they would survive. On a bright sunny morning, grandpa and grandma finally arrived in Saigon (now renamed Ho Chi Minh City). They decided to settle there and they bought a good house to start having a family with. Grandpa opened a grocery store and grandma did all the chores around the house. They had 5 kids: 3 girls and 2 boys. My mom was the second youngest family member in the family, and she and her other siblings helped grandpa out with the store and had fun going to the movies.
However, when the fall of Saigon occurred in 1975, my mom, one of my aunts, and one of my uncles, and grandpa and grandma managed to move to America. My other aunt and uncle were caught trying to flee but were lucky to escape from Vietnamese soldiers. To this day both of them are still living in Vietnam, but they have their own families to take care of and are very happy. When they all got to America, they all settled in San Francisco, California, which is where we all currently and still live today.
Not only has our family history changed, but Asian American culture has changed as well. We still carry your values and traditions that you had when you were still alive but there are also some modifications in Asian American culture today. Our family still practices traditions and celebrates holidays like Chinese New Year and the Moon Festival, and I like how our family gathers together to celebrate these moments because I greatly appreciate my family and other things that I have during those times. We still speak Chinese and cook dishes that come from both China and Vietnam. Our family makes sure that we preserve our cultural heritage and understand how important it is. Not all of Asian American culture has been erased from the past.
However, much of Asian American culture has changed. Fewer and fewer people seem to appreciate Asian American culture and do not realize how important it is to understand and recognize your own heritage. We live in a society today where our lives are filled with technology and other aspects of American culture that we get distracted from spending time on our past. There is hope though. People have incorporated Asian American ideals into today’s society through popular aspects such as music and dance. Even though the practices may not be the same as those in the past, they still convey the same message about Asian American culture as the traditions, values, and practices of Asian American culture do in the past.

Sincerely,

Cindy