Wasana Grimsby: Immigrant Stories

This is the story of my mother, Wasana Grimsby, or by her maiden name, Wasana Kraipinit. I will be telling details about the journey of her life to becoming a first-generation immigrant from Thailand in the United States. My mother grew up in the northeast of Thailand in this small town called Ban Pai. There, she lived with her large family of four siblings. Her father passed away when she was nine, so at a young age, she adopted the responsibility of taking care of her younger siblings. She has fond memories of Ban Pai, telling me that, although it was a small town, everybody was kind. People in Ban Pai were close, sharing food, tools, and toys with each other. Growing up, she knew everyone living there. After high school, my mother left her hometown to attend university in Bangkok. There, she lived with her older sister in a small condo located right in the heart of the city. She worked three jobs to put herself through school, selling lottery tickets, working at a call center, and picking up various shifts around town. After seven years, she graduated from Phram Kham Heng University with a bachelor's degree in English literature. After graduating, my mom stayed in Bangkok with her sister and continued working. She would return to her hometown every now and then to visit her mom and younger siblings. In 1998, my mom met my dad. He was in Thailand on a business trip. They were introduced to each other through mutual friends and quickly fell in love. My mother was worried about the big cultural shift that would come with moving from Thailand to the United States. But then in 1999, my mom made the decision to marry my father, and together they moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2003, she gave birth to me and my brother. We were twins. In the U.S., my mom had a few jobs as a waitress, but eventually became a stay-at-home mom. She always took care of my brother and I. My mom tells me that everything was a learning experience for her—the culture, the social life, the food, and even the weather—was way different than she expected. Regardless of all the new changes, my mother tells me that the U.S. is her new home. I admire my mom for her resilience. Despite the large changes she experienced in her life, she forged a path anywhere she went. Here in the U.S., she found a community through the Thai Temple and new friends who shared the immigrant experience. Most importantly, she thinks of the U.S. as her home because our family is here. To my mom, home is where the family is. Her story has taught me a valuable lesson that wherever I go, as long as I'm surrounded by the people I love, I will always have a place to call home.