Juile Tri

My mum

18

Intro:

My mum was born on the 10th of August 1968 in Vietnam, her name is Julie Tri (Chinese name: 李丽如 ). She is the second oldest. She has one older brother (my uncle) and two younger sisters (my aunts).

Mid-Late life

My grandma, uncle, and one of my aunts also emigrated to NZ. They all lived together in Manurewa. They were finding their feet on this land and everyone was trying their best to financially support everyone as my grandfather passed away before they move to NZ. Mum was really close to her family and she ensured they are being looked after.

Around 2006 my mum met my dad and she moved to Northcote away from her family. At this time my mum was able to move on with her life as her siblings and mum were financially stable and getting used to the NZ life. In 2007 mum and dad visited Shanghai to visit my dad's city. My parents were lucky to have me arrive in their lives in 2009.

I remember mum taking us on a visit to Vietnam with my mum, aunt, and grandma to visit my other aunt in 2015. I’m pretty sure that I went to Saigon in the southern part of Vietnam when I went. My other aunt ran a mattress store.

2016 was a successful year for mum. She got a job in Barfoot and Thompson. She really enjoyed the job and her employer really valued her passion and talent. She become very committed to her job that she often returned home late at night. She even found time to help my aunt to run sewing jobs at my grandma's garage. Due to her commitment to work, she sometimes stayed with her mum instead of returning back to Northcote and as a side effect she helped out her family.

In late 2017, mum was diagnosed with cancer and she had around 6months to live. This was a sad time for my family. Mum being mum she carried on working and normal daily life. She divided her time with her family and also back with me and dad.

On the 10th of July 2018 at 10:00 am, she passed away at the hospice- at age 49. Mum is buried in Albany, Auckland, NZ. Just 2 more months then she would be 50.

Many people attended her funeral including the head of a Buddhist monastery. I remembered that after she died for like nearly a week I went to the monastery and everyone would pray there for 2-4 hours each day, sitting there. I would also do this once a year after.

Contributions to family and conclusion

I chose my mum because I will grow up without her and could only wish that I still have her around. Her passion and dedication to her family are to be admired. She supported her family when they first arrived in NZ, I want to have the strength to help my own family as my mum.