A Hero's Journey in My Family

A hero's place in society has remained relatively consistent since the very beginning of time. Throughout the years, people have seen many different versions of larger-than-life heroes, who have completed seemingly impossible tasks and persevered through immense adversity. The common denominator between all of these heroes has always been that each and every one of these beings has put his/her own life in danger and fought great battles in the pursuit of a better life for mankind as a whole.

In the fall of 2012, my mother almost succumbed to her illness. I had just begun my freshman year of high school midst angry conversations between my parents and the threat of separation. It would seem as if they bickered about the most irrelevant things, almost as if they had no other reason to fight other than the fight itself. Those moments were excruciatingly lonely, my father worked until the dead of night and my mother would come home exhausted from treatment. I now know that there was no one who felt more unvalued than my mother. I wish I had the ability to iron away this blunder that destiny had fabricated, however foolish this desire is.

The book, The Latehomecomer, is a fascinating story about a Hmong family and their struggle to get out of Laos and come to America as refugees. The Hmong people are a very proud people and they do not want to forget their culture. One can clearly see that the Hmong people hold close their identity and do not want to conform to the Vietnamese way. They take pride in their culture, their society, and the way they view how government should run. Hmong people did not agree with the Vietnamese communist government and were willing to join forces and help the United States as much as possible so that they could fight for what they believed in. Even though most of the young men and boys that fought in the war died in battle or were

     The Hmong had trouble adapting to American life. With no driver’s license or bank account, they had to make a living doing whatever they could. Not knowing the language in a foreign land doesn’t help either. The Hmong women adapted much more quickly than the men did because of the fact that they interacted more with English-speaking people. While the men were at work, the women were spending time interacting. The Hmong men also refused to change more that the women did. This shift of power caused a lot of changes in Hmong households. What even caused more of a power shift was the fact that the Hmong children learned about the culture easier than the women did. Instead of the father having control over the family like it was back in Southeast Asia, the children now had the upper edge. The children could communicate, interact and even drive with Americans. You could see a 16-year-old Hmong

Living in the United States wasn’t any easier for my dad. Having no parents meant he had no permanent home. He lived with his sponsors that helped him come to the United States. My dad knew very little english and was enrolled into high school. There he and many Hmongs were discriminated by other students. After graduating High School my dad received his first job where he worked for minimum wage. Even though having a job my dad still had no permanent home. He moved in with his uncles that treated them poorly. My dad had to sleep in an attic that had a broken window in the harsh Minnesota winter. That night it was twenty below zero and my dad had three thick blankets on still struggling to stay warm. After thirty long years our family has came a long ways. Today we are fulfilling the American dream in the natural state of Arkansas.

What images come to mind as you reflect on your childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the warmest of memories. Yet for many mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept of their feet, and lions roar to their loyal place in the animal kingdom. There is no doubt that today’s entertainment has most of its touch using classical influences. Walt Disney has produced animated films that have captured the heart and imagination of audiences of all ages around the world through the magic of storytelling and imagery. Many of us appreciate the imagination and magic that Disney puts into its animations with out knowing they are based off of classical and traditional storylines

The Hmong people do not call any one country home, but have relocated several times throughout history due to war and political oppression. An article published in the Journal of Multicultural counseling and Development finds that the Hmong primarily lived in Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. They had a great impact in helping western forces during the Vietnam War, and wars in Laos in efforts to end Communism. The article continues and describes how many tried to escape from Laos; those that survived settled in refugee camps that had terrible living conditions. (Tatman, 2004). Although the Hmong are diffused around the world, their distinct cultural traditions and customs create a strong cultural identity. After discussing of the traditions and social customs of the Hmong culture learned through two different interviews, the cultural traditions and social customs will be compared and contrasted with European-American culture, and will be concluded with the impact that Hmong culture has on today’s society.

The night air was heavy with silence. Clouds drifted across a calm sky, and a full moon shone in the distance. In a small hut on the outskirts of the valley, an old man lay in bed, awake in the peaceful slumber of the village. His breaths came in rattling gasps, his forehead burned, and his joints felt stiff with pain. He shifted on the blankets, his withered hands clenched in fists as he tried to suppress the wave of bitter memories coming to him. His life had been nothing more than work, loss, tragedy. He remembered all of his hope, his ambition, in his youth, and he smiled bitterly. No one would remember him as the man that he had once hoped he would become. Now, as his breathing became heavier and he felt himself fading on the brink of

Good morning brother and sister, I pray all is well with each of you as we continue this series on the children of Israel... we hope if the spirit allows us to end this series this week... When God give you instruction to do something, don’t be greedy, don’t ask tons of questions, and most of all don’t be too lazy and don’t do it...

The Hmong, an Asian ethnic group, came from an oral culture, where they did not have any written form until the 1950s (McCall, 1999). The Hmong lived an agricultural lifestyle in the hill and mountain areas in Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand (McCall, 1999; Tatman, 2004). They focused on physical labor to provide food for the family and lacked formal education, as it was not essential (Lee & Green, 2008; McCall, 1999).

Gerald is a 19 year old that has other brothers that all want the inheritance of their parents for themselves they are all selfish and they are fighting over the money and they keep fighting then gerald snaps and he stabs one of his brothers and left him for dead as he was running the cops saw him and they chased him and through the city and when he found his house he ran in then the brothers attacked him for killing his own blood and then he fought out of it and he got into a fist fight with his brothers and that wasn't for killing his brother it was for the money and he was losing when his close friend came and broke up the fight and the friend got punched in the face and he drew a gun and yelled “quit this fighting aren't you guys brothers” and Gerald ripped the gun out of his friends hand and he shot it

Could you ever imagine sending your child on a field trip knowing that end purpose was for them to die? GOD sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to earth ultimately for this trip. Desire coming from the flesh of a woman, Jesus Christ is GOD's son. Jesus walked the earth to teach us about his father and how he wished for us to live, so that our souls would be clean in order to reach the pearly gates of heaven.

Ideally, immigration to America has been noted as a step in the right direction for several years. The concept of the “American Dream” has been one of the main reasons behind immigrants choosing to leave their hometown and in other cases, changes in government and enslavement has led immigrants to the States. It is no wonder why they fight through battles most would have never known existed. Asian American Thuy Lee, is daughter to immigrant parents who escaped Vietnam during the communist takeover. Her story in particular, was a very detailed experience with words that helped me perfectly envision her family’s hardships on

Now just for a moment ponder the fact that many people do not have that strong, positive, or sensationally warm feeling of belonging to a location. The Hmong in the book by Anne Fadiman called, The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down clearly expresses the lack of home and belonging for the Lee family. In fact, this book gives the reader a full look at the post modernistic view of nomadism that the Hmong have endured for centuries and the difficulties that their populous have suffered due to lack of foreigner understanding. This draws attention to the cultural embeddedness of “home” and the sense of belonging.

The Hmong had to face many changes in coming to the U.S. For example, the big change they faced was the language barrier. I would have to say that was the main cause of role loss many adult Hmong people faced. Another main cause was the lifestyle. In Laos they were used to working in the farms and providing for themselves. On the contrary in the U.S they had to adapt to the new lifestyle of living mainly in the city. This loss affects their adjustment to America drastically. For instance, due to the language barrier when they are in need of any kind of help it may be difficult for them to find it. It can be especially difficult in medical conditions. For example, most of Lia’s treatments were difficult for the family to understand, simply because