The words of Lao American Community Sister, April Phomthavong, said it best. She describes the importance of my Mother’s Shop so brilliantly, beautifully:

“Your mother’s shop was deeply pivotal to the continual expression of Lao arts and culture in San Diego. There is no doubt about that.

The store’s base in SE San Diego and close proximity to the 1st ever Theravada Lao Buddhist Temple in the US was perhaps universally charged.

A Lao girl from this same place, I saw your mother, the shopkeeper, as my feminine icon of entrepreneurship and woman-powered magik wherein a lot of times our leaders are uncles or grandfathers. The utmost love to them, however, having feminine fierceness was greatly thirsted for.

The sinh is passed on from the grandmother and/or mother. Us, diaspora girls learning the textiles, the dances, the folklore relied on these imports. We built our narratives from American to Lao American over this material. Otherwise beauty for us by us. I felt beautiful for the first time and not by force wearing the traditional attire then.

I’m so thankful for the times we rushed to Muang Luang Imports to buy fabric for new dance costumes and dance accessories. Most importantly that we had this hub.

The new owners have big shoes to fill. I hope there is as much love in keeping the cultural connection alive and us wanting it.

Krysada Binly Panusith Phounsiri Please feel free to archive this and send your mom my congratulations to her going freelance.

If she happens to have a copy of Kevin’s Lao New Year at MLK 2005 video, I’d love to collect this. This is when we had our modern Nang Sangkhan dance-drama. I remember she let us rent the dance headdresses because there would have been no way I could have afforded them. The money we fundraised came from the Southeast Asian community in SE SD and City Heights so it was really grassroots.

Sourita Sirí Yeah, a shop beyond a shop. She and her curation of cultural imports really did mean that much and especially for girls.”