Happy Fathers Day

For My Father

Some people leave behind stories that are spoken.

Others leave behind stories that are lived.

My father was one of them.

When I think of my childhood, so many of my happiest memories begin with him.

I was Daddy’s little girl.

Long before I understood sacrifice, I simply knew what it felt like to be loved by my father. The memories that have stayed with me aren’t grand or extraordinary-they’re the ordinary moments that quietly become the foundation of a life. His presence. His laughter. The comfort of knowing my father was there.

As children, we rarely understand everything our parents carry.

As adults, we begin to see it.

I now understand that behind those everyday moments was a man who had endured hardship, left behind the only home he had ever known, crossed the Mekong River in search of safety, and rebuilt a life for his family with courage and hope.

The older I become, the more I admire the quiet strength he carried.

He didn’t need recognition.

He simply loved his family.

Each year, during Lao new year we gather to honor those who came before us. We offer flowers, prayers, candles, and food-not because they need them, but because remembrance keeps love alive across generations.

That tradition has become part of who I am.

When I wrote Petals of Memory, I wasn’t only telling the story of a ceremony.

I was telling the story of my father.

Of my mother.

Of my family.

Of the countless families whose love continues long after a life has ended.

Today, I no longer measure my father’s presence by the number of years since he passed.

I find him in the values he left behind.

In the resilience he taught without words.

In the compassion I try to extend to others.

In the quiet moments when I pause to remember where I came from.

Eternal Marigold exists because I believe remembrance is one of the purest expressions of love.

Every tribute we create is rooted in that belief.

This page is dedicated to my father-

my first hero,

my childhood protector,

my quiet example of strength,

and forever, my

Daddy.