“I love the beauty of relationships in the lao culture.”
-Vanessa Luangaphay , she/her, 19, NY
“We have a sense of community that we come to learn is a part of us. It becomes our support system that we may not even realize at first. It pleasantly creeps up on you.”
“In my immediate and extended family, we have an incredibly tight knit culture where we all WANT to stay connected with one another. Luckily a lot of my aunts and uncles decided to stay in Syracuse, in which a lot of my cousins and I grew up together eventually being the reason for our strong foundational bonds. We grew up playing together, bond, talk, watch movies, turn to each other when needed, etc. It was honestly like having more siblings to play with as a kid. If I couldn’t hang out with my friends, I could always hang out with my cousins (family was always an exception) and sometimes ...”
“I honestly just preferred to. My family always had gatherings, sometimes 1-3 times a week, with each of us coordinating who hosts at what house. They'd make delicious hot meals while the aunts and uncles talked in one room and the kids hangout in another. Often the older cousins, 14 and up, would babysit the younger ones.”
“It never gets old hearing my friends ask me,
‘how many cousins do you have?’
when they’re over during family gatherings and see my big family.“
“These questions always came up and I loved answering them. I am so proud of my family and my love for them is prevalent even when I am speaking about them. I would find myself going on and on about my cousins, their personalities, funny stories and memories, their relationship to me among other cousins, and sometimes I’d end up drawing part of a family tree haha.“
“It was nice to see how much my friends were interested and cared enough to listen. I always really appreciated that because anyone who knows me, knows that my family is an incredibly important part of my life. I am lucky to have such great meaningful friendships. However, I was always surprised to hear that my friends never saw their cousins often, even when they would live in the same town. ”
“I grew up learning that people have different family dynamics and that’s okay, not everyone’s is like mine. Some people prefer their family dynamic and some people don’t.”
“Either way, I appreciate what I have and I am lucky to learn from others. I am blessed to have a family dynamic that I love and am endlessly grateful for.”
