[My parents] If you’re Filipino or know someone Filipino, you may have heard of the joke: “Oh, so your mom is a nurse?”. People will laugh and I would say… maybe 7 times out of 10 that person’s mom is a nurse or that person knows a Filipino nurse.

It’s a coincidence that most people enjoy sharing the laugh over but I usually don’t classify it as funny. My mom’s a nurse because it was the only freaking way she could escape poverty in the Philippines to create a better life for herself.

She shared a single bedroom apartment with 4 other women who also came to the U.S. to be a nurse - all of similar backgrounds like her; grew up poor, came from a somewhat large family, wanted to support her family.

None of them could really cook, drive well, or speak english fluently. For years, my mom never bought anything for herself; she never treated herself to new clothes, shoes, bags, whatever. She saved her money and sent it home.

She passed up the opportunity of completing her Master’s in Nursing and continuing to be in the same place as my dad to drop her whole life in her early 20’s to move halfway across the world

When my parents finally got married and my dad moved here, it was hard for him too. Top of his class with an accounting degree -every company/firm turned him down. His interview would barely be a few minutes before he saw the interviewer’s face change when they heard his accent

Fuck that. He took up any job he could, also saving money to send to his parents and 11 siblings. He finally got his chance to make his mark and has been a CPA/Director of Finance ever since.

My mom is a superhero working in the ER at the hospital she’s been at for the last 31 years. She’s been FaceTiming me showing me the bruises she has on her face from all the masks she’s had to wear at work. People have been calling out because they're scared to get sick.

I’m choked up typing this. I love parents and siblings so much. Their legacy is mine, as mine is theirs.

[COVID-19] I know everyone has had to make an adjustment because COVID-19, but if you’re being racist towards asians because of our color, fuck you. If you judge us for also wearing a mask at the grocery store, or call this virus anything over then it’s actual name, I hate you.

Asians have earned their place in this country, this country made entirely of immigrants. If you’re upset about this virus, do something positive about it.

Stay the fuck home, donate to a charity, support your local businesses, check in on your friends, pick up a new hobby. But quit being racist.