This month the Hmong New Year is once again alive with festivities, food, and culture around parts of the world. Here, in Colorado, the Hmong New Year always takes place the weekend after Thanksgiving. I hope to go again for the food, performances, and to see my younger sibling’s band, One Sun One Moon (OSOM), play on stage.
In honor of this special occasion, I want to share something I had worked on earlier this year. It’s an old photo that I love and tried to restore.
The people in the photo are my uncle (Mom’s older brother), his wife, and a relative. It was taken in Laos maybe close to 40+ years ago.
Below is the before image. Above, I pretty much only cleaned up the scratches and crinkles on their faces.
My uncle still lives in Laos. I don’t know very much about him, his wife, and their family. It is sad that I don’t know because I wish I did. Once in a while I’ll get some information from Mom but I don’t know any of their names and can’t put names to faces. Mom is the second youngest of 7 siblings (I think there are 7…I don’t even know for sure!) and she is in her early 60’s.
Sometimes I find it strange to be brought up in a completely different culture (American) than the one my parents grew up in.
From My Corner of the Universe 
Beautiful. So very beautiful. It’s wonderful what you are doing preserving a piece of your heritage through these photos. May the strong yet beautifully gentle spirit of your family live on in your heart. I have a Laotian friend called Lah. Through her I see the gentle culture of your heritage. The people soft spoken and refined. To me, those are exceptional qualities indeed. Sharon
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Thank, Sharon!
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