April 15, 2010
Tricia Houston
It is my last night in Saigon and I feel a sense of peace within myself. I have found more than I thought I would during my first visit to my homeland. Of course, the many friends I have made on this reunion. The adoptees I have met are so very supportive. We have a unique community that only another Vietnamese adoptee can understand the importance of visiting our motherland for the first time. The support of each other in our searches of our identity was overwhelming. For me I had a fellow adoptee, Anh Dao, support me when I visited my orphanage, Hoi Duc Anh. I was fortunate to be present at Kim’s meeting with a nun who was in his baby picture. I was there to support my brother. Then the meeting the Vietnamese family and them showing me the Vietnamese culture was what I wanted in this visit. The Go Vap orphanage kids have my heart forever. I will remember their eagerness to learn and their smiles upon greeting me. The one event that I did not expect was to find the nurse that carried me to the World Vision Baby Home from Hoi Duc Anh. There are many stories like mine that were repeated throughout the two weeks here in Viet Nam.
This trip was 35 years in the making. This was the right time for me to return on my personal journey. There were too many events that were signs that this was the right time for me to visit Saigon, my birth place. In the future, I know I will return.