Lucky Child (22 page)

My mother,
Ung, Ay Chourng.

My father,
Ung, Seng Im.

NOTE:
All photos courtesy of the author unless otherwise identified
.

My family with our car—the only picture we have of all the seven siblings together.
(From left to right)
Khouy, me, Ma
(holding Geak)
, Chou, Keaw, Meng, and Kim (1974).

Chou and me
(right)
(1975)

Meng, me, and my sister-in-law Eang Tan on our first day at the refugee camp in Thailand (1980). We had just gotten off the boat at Lam Sing.

Meng, Eang, and me on our last day at the camp (1980). Even eighteen months after the Khmer Rouge’s defeat, my stomach, swollen from malnutrition, still carried memories of the war.

Meng, me, and Eang when we arrived at Burlington International Airport, Vermont. I was so excited, I buttoned my shirt wrong (1980).

Eang was twenty-four and Meng was only twenty-three in 1980, when they became my protectors and parents. As an adult, I’m grateful they raised me the way they did.

Me in my Tom cat costume going trick-or-treating on my first Halloween (1980)

Kim and Chou wore their best clothes to pose for this picture to send to Meng when we reconnected again in 1984.

This is how I always remember Chou—gentle, soulful, and kind (1985).

Chou and Pheng on their wedding day (1985).

Their arranged marriage blossomed into love (1990).