A Ngal Lay

I have spent nearly six decades traveling around the world. Explaining what happens to travelers on treks to faraway places to express in words. Ibn Battuta was also a traveler in the 14^th century. He journeyed 75,000 miles. Ibn Battuta, reflecting on his travels, said, “Traveling—it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

In the last twenty-five years, I revisited places that I had been to decades before and places that I hadn’t yet seen. In the last decade, I visited Myanmar. I discovered my family on my first trip while playing Scrabble with Ti Ti, my oldest granddaughter. On my last trip, I discovered my great-granddaughter, A Ngal Lay.

I love my family, but it is a bittersweet feeling. A Ngal Lay doesn’t have any memory of our time together. However, she knows that some old guy in America cares a great deal about her. I hope to be with my family again.

This picture of Ti Ti and A Ngal Lay was taken two years ago.

Ibn Battuta also said, “Traveling gives you a home in a thousand strange places, then leaves you a stranger in your own land.” I wish that my family and I would be together in America. The best that I can do is to remember them.