a letter to my mother she will never read

#A LETTER TO MY MOTHER SHE WILL NEVER READ HOW TO#

I admire you more than you can ever know. I always think about how beautiful and loving you have always been since birth. When I’m with you there is a calmness and peace in my heart. I’m going to put in writing how much you are loved and admired by everyone who is and has been in your life. You said Sunday that you hated the idea of turning 40 - my baby, it’s just another stepping stone and you’ve crossed over many with such grace. I know how extremely fortunate I am to have been born to a mother who has always made me feel treasured. The sad truth is there are lots of children (young and old) in this world desperately waiting for their parents to say, “I love you, and I’m so proud of you just the way you are” but never hear it. I want her to believe this, to know this for certain.Īnd when she tries to tell me again how she messed up at being a mom, I’ll point to my heart and say, “Impossible!” And if she still tries to argue, I’ll point to this letter and say, “Gotcha!” So much more than she ever gave herself credit for. This letter disproves all those times my mom has said things like, “I wish I had been a better mother.” She was always more than enough. This letter is hard evidence that my mother is the mom she always hoped to be (no one could write such things and be anything but good). We really need to find a way to not be so hard on ourselves. But here’s the reality: if we can manage to keep our kids clothed, housed, fed AND to love them unconditionally, then we’ve done our jobs well. We compare ourselves to other moms and constantly fall short. What strikes me about this letter is the prevailing and entirely unwarranted sense of mother’s guilt - the feeling all moms have that we have either done too little or too much for our kids. I read it often, especially when I’m feeling low. That is also a major part of New England identity, it is not just the mansions.Four years ago when I turned 40, my mother wrote me a letter which I’ve kept in my jewelry box ever since. “I really wanted to capture that - within the midst of all this WASP life - Asian American identity thrives, immigrant identity thrives, and that working class folks live here. “I wanted to have a much more diverse look at New England life, which is dependent on these brown and yellow folks to clean for them, to cook for them,” Vuong said, referring to the residents of the wealthy towns that surround Hartford. One of Vuong’s goals was to depict Asian American life in New England, which he said is rarely represented in literature. The book is presented as a loving letter to his illiterate mother.

#A LETTER TO MY MOTHER SHE WILL NEVER READ HOW TO#

Penguin Pressīased on Vuong’s experience growing up as the son of a single mother and as a refugee of the Vietnam War, “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” centers on Little Dog, a creative and precocious child who is the first in his family to learn how to read. An acclaimed poet, Vuong won the Whiting Prize in 2016 with his collection, “Night Sky With Exit Wounds.” 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous,' a novel by Ocean Vuong. That sentiment is part of the reason why Hartford feels like another character in Vuong’s debut novel, “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous,” which is scheduled to be released Tuesday by Penguin Press.

A letter to my mother she will never read