Lotus Raising: An Amerasian Memoir is a multicultural memoir about opening your heart to God, inspired by my journey to joy—through prejudice, abuse, and a car accident that forced me to watch my family take their last breaths after I immigrated to America.

With so much uncertainty and unrest in the world, this book can bring peace to the hearts of those who are suffering. Everyone experiences the crippling effects of despair and finds themselves on their knees begging God to take away the pain. There were times when I felt I would rather die than live. I wondered if there was any purpose to my life. I wondered why God would allow me to suffer when I had done my best to live right. Others may be asking themselves the same question. As a child in Vietnam, I was what the Vietnamese called a “child of the dust”—one of thousands of “half-breed” children left behind by American soldiers after the US pulled out of the Vietnam War. The textured hair and dark skin I inherited from my African-American father marked me as the blood left behind by the enemy in a country where the Viet Cong reigned. I was rejected by my own grandparents and called names at school. As an immigrant to the United States, I felt out of place. It took all my grit and faith to overcome the language, cultural, and socio-economic barriers necessary to complete high school at 21 and eventually earn a college degree.

At age 31, I was married, happy with my career as a dental hygienist, and making good money. That was when a car accident en route to the beach for my birthday celebration changed everything. The loss of my family resurfaced past traumas, prompting the need to embrace and learn how to recover, not just from my present grief, but from a lifetime of hurt. Today I am happily remarried. I humbly treasure and appreciate my life with my husband our two children and our rescue dog. I enjoy being out in nature, reading self-help books, and playing with my family. My husband often teases me that all I want to do is play!

I don’t waste any moment of my life now. I try to make the most and try my best to embark on opportunities presented to me. As a child, I hardly had enough food to fill my stomach—now I can afford to eat what I want. In fact, now I have to be careful not to overeat! I love exercising and taking care of my body. I want to share this goodness with others. That’s why now I’ve decided to share everything in this inspirational memoir, to show how life can be good after hardship. I offer this book to you with my deepest love and compassion, with the hope that reading its pages will bring you comfort in your time of sorrow. I hope after reading my story you will come to realize that it doesn’t matter what hardships life might face us with. If we are willing to change our perception, open our hearts to God, and accept help from others, we can be healed. Not only can we be healed, but we can also gain profound wisdom.