One of my favorite news magazines is The Week. I was an early subscriber, when it was a very slim compilation of the week’s news, opinions, and reviews from diverse sources, and had very few ads. It has bulked up since then – mostly with ads, but still retains its essential character of delivering relevant snapshots of what’s happened in the past week.
This week, The Week excerpted some tributes to mothers from This I Believe (“The invaluable weight of a mother’s gifts”), a collection of essays from youths and adults about their core va;ies and beliefs. The third story is about a single mother of two little girls who set off to escape Communist Vietnam, and the courage it took to make that decision and see it through to completion – acceptance into the United States as political refugees, and building new lives here. For those of us who were once boat people ourselves it will bring back poignant, wrenching memories of journeys marked by fear, uncertainty, and also strength and bravery. For others, it will provide a glimpse into what it means to be part of the Vietnamese diaspora known as the “Boat People.”