To the Parents Who Never Asked for Thanks | Part 3: To Keep It, and Give It Back

The Quiet Urge to Preserve

Around 2018, Alice briefly considered starting a community project for second-generation Chinese immigrants. “I wanted to help others reconnect with their heritage,” she says. “But I didn’t go through with it. I was too caught up in my own life at the time.”

Still, that impulse hasn’t left her. She was immediately intrigued when she heard about Myimi - and has expressed her full support. She deeply values the space this project creates for stories like hers. “If our generation doesn’t keep these things going, they’ll disappear,” she says. “I think what you’re doing is really meaningful.”

Reflecting on how much her parents endured to build a life in a new country, Alice sees language and culture not just as skills, but as emotional legacies. She hopes others can feel proud of speaking more than one language - even if imperfectly. “People often apologize for not being fluent. But honestly, being able to communicate in more than one language is something to be proud of.”

All the Things I Almost Missed

These days, Alice celebrates cultural holidays with her family in Vancouver. Her uncle, cousins, and siblings gather, cooking and eating together. “It’s during those moments that I really feel like we’re a family,” she says. “Good food, good people - that’s what I want to keep going.”

As she watches her parents age, the gratitude has only deepened. “When you’re young, you just want to be independent. But now I see them going to the doctor more often. Their health is changing. I just want to be there for them like they were for me.”

She tears up talking about them. “They gave up everything. My mom was 29 when she had my brother, in a new country, barely speaking English. And she raised us. She made it work. Now that I’m around the same age, I can’t believe how much they went through.”

A recent Korean drama, When Life Gives You Tangerines, hit close to home. “Every episode made me cry. It reminded me of my parents and everything they’ve done. I love them so much. They’re the sweetest people I know.”

To Alice, and to many second-generation kids like her, love often sounds like a language they’re still learning. But through food, reflection, and time, that language becomes clearer. And louder.