Her whole life, Putsata Reang (Put, for short) was accustomed to exceeding her parents expectations. She excelled in her career, paid for her parents to go on trips together and maintained a tight connection to her siblings and community. Yet a fundamental part of Put – her identity as bisexual – was enough to crack the foundations of their relationship. When Put’s mother did not attend her wedding to the woman of her dreams, she feared she would never close the distance between them. Today, Put shares an update on her relationship with her Ma — and reveals what’s given her the strength to hold on all these years. Putsata tells a longer version of this story in her memoir, “Ma and Me.”
[MUSIC]
Anna Martin: From The New York Times,
I'm Anna Martin.
This is Modern Love.
In this week's essay,
an immigrant daughter exceeds almost all expectations.
But in this one big way,
she's a disappointment
to the person she most wants to impress —
her mom.
The essay is written and read by Putsata Reang.
Putsata Reang: This past December,
my mother called me in Seattle
from her rural Oregon home.
She hadn't talked to me in months.
Her talk was sprinkled with the Khmer word 'gohn.'
It means 'darling.'
She had stopped using that word with me months before.
At the end of our call,
she summoned me home,