A morbid beginning, but I think from a young age, I learned what death meant; I learned how much our lives were structured around this moment; I learned that you needed people, I learned the importance of family, I learned the feeling of loving and giving, hurting and not receiving, but also the power of being the example you wanted. I know life gets busy, I know showing up at family events and helping out feels like you give more than you get in return, and I know being there feels useless at times...

We are better than this.We are better than the fights. We are better than the shootings. We are better than the filming of these events. We are better than the numbness we have to tragedy. We are better than adding more hate into hatred acts.

Living abroad where all the people are of one culture, who have an established country, and a cohesive civilization between the same borders, people often don't understand nor even fathom, what it is like to not have a country of your own.

It's like: always feeling like a stranger in the country you were born in.
It's like: getting excited at the sight of a familiar skin tone when you're in public.
It's like: your heart breathing fresh air when you hear the same tongue at the most unexpected times--which is--most times.

For the love, vision, and real stories behind this film, I wanted to commemorate the first anniversary since its release by honoring all the people who have been apart of the leap of faith I once took.

Honoring people because; taboo does not only consist of the two involved, but the many people around them.

'Leap of faith' because; I truly believe taboo is the greatest test to see who truly loves us unconditionally. Who will still be there when society can no longer read you as a valid member. And whether or not, you truly love yourself, to build the world you believe in, even if the world does not want you.

How do I say this in a way that you will hear me? Hear me pleading for the Hmong women who didn’t know better and could only do the best they could to love you. How can I say it in a way that doesn’t coddle and cushion what you did and have no interest to care for? Because I want to speak for her, who binned by society's dead ends, cannot say so herself.

It must be the timing of life, but documenting our family stories and elders seem to be in more need than ever. Or maybe we, in this generation, are just older now so it's more relevant. I've lost all the elders in my life that I didn't realize I'd have to say goodbye to one day, and all I have left is my grandmother. My love for her, is one that has especially grown with the lost of every loved one out of pain for the things I didn't do for them.

For my grandma's 77th, I wanted to change that. I wanted to finally start everything I always wanted to do, everything I said I would do "later" when I had "time."

Well, time is not coming. And it is not staying.