My Family

My family is very small... there are only three of us since I'm an only child!!

My parents are amazing people. They have worked so hard their whole lives to give me the very best. We do not always see eye to eye on things. College really opened my eyes to many issues and I'm probably more of a feminist than they would like. However, I have major respect for them.

The Tran's moved from Vietnam to Texas in 1979 with no money, knowing little English, and already pregnant with their first child. That seems like a pretty scary situation to me. I never understood exactly how poor we were until later in life because I always had more than I needed. I never wanted for anything including a full college education. I can only hope that I'll be as great of a parent as they have been to me.

My mom - Beautiful, great cook, amazing strength
My mother is a "balls to the wall" type of lady. She doesn't mess around. My mother is very strict and all though I hated it growing up I can now appreciate those standards. I, too, can be very blunt, straight-foward, and hyper organized. These skills have greatly helped me in my career.

My dad - kind, gentle, quiet
My dad is the epitome of constant love and support. He is very quiet, but when he speaks one should listen. No one has as much as patience as he does and he puts up with a lot of crap from me and my mom. We are very close because growing up he was always home from work right after I got out of school. My mother would work late hours, so dad and I would eat dinner together. He made sure I did my homework and took a bath. He is the reason I know any Vietnamese at all. We would have "Asian school" after regular school. I put up a lot of resistance in learning these things, but now I'm grateful because I can communicate with many of my family members who only speak 1 language. It also comes in handy when I go to the Asian nail salon or grocery store. Most people think I can't understand them, but I absolutely know what they're saying. I enjoy hearing them debate whether I'm Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, or Japanese (since I don't have typical Vietnamese features). Thanks, dad, for giving me the skill to eavesdrop on conversations :)

In less than a month, I'll have a new family - a husband and two step children. It's so interesting to watch them interact together. This instant family will be a big change, but I can't wait to be married.