We asked readers to share their favorite photos of their parents and grandparents.
But what about the happier, more domestic lives they lived?
Its rare to see photos of them carefree and just existing in the United States.
“My dad, Joe, emigrated from Taiwan to study architecture at Berkeley.
My mom, June, grew up in Washington, D.C. (her father was a diplomat).
She was a high school teacher for 30 years before she passed away in 1999.
June was and is the love of Joe’s life!
A few years ago, he made the journey to rural China to bring her ashes to her birthplace.
There’s a saying in Chinese he taught us: .
(Fallen leaves return to their roots.)”
They moved to Chicago in 1980 and are still there today.
I love how cool they look.
Both are two of the most mom-and-dad people in the world.
It symbolizes new beginnings and their journey to America together."
“This photo was taken inHawaii(most likely on the Big Island) in the 1920s.
They didn’t smile for pictures.
Kenichi’s parents were Matajiro and Mayo (Kodama) Shintaku, and they immigrated to Hawaii from Hiroshima.
My grandfather was born in Hawaii in 1891.
Kenichi was a veteran of World War I and is buried at the veteran’s cemetery.”
This photo always fills me with wonder and pride.
I can’t see any of that pain or trauma here.
All I see is hope for what’s ahead."
“My name is Chris and Im the 3-year-old in this photo.
My parents are Hyesook (mom) and Intae (dad).
Shes been working there since we moved to the States.
The Bronx was our first move because of my mom’s nursing job.
What I like about this picture is how my parents were not afraid to show their Korean cultural pride.
I cant imagine wearing a hanbok walking through the Bronx even today.”
“Dads favorite hobby is photography.
Mom is his favorite muse.
This photo always made us kids crack up because he missed the cameras self-timer.
Theyre celebrating their 62nd anniversary this year.”
Pictured are my dad, Dan, my mom, Jovy, me and my little brother.
We flew on a Pan Am Airlines Boeing 747 from San Francisco to Manila.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1970 and later was commissioned as a naval officer.
He honorably served for 30 years.
My mom went to Ball State and this photo was taken in Indiana, circa 1967 or 68.
It was deliberately staged by the photographer to reference ‘Bonnie and Clyde.'"
They sat across from each other but were so shy that they didn’t speak a word.
Then World War II started and their world was turned upside down.
I imagine the photo was taken on the occasion of their wedding or engagement.
They had a short engagement.
The photo was taken in Los Angeles, California, where they both were born and lived.
The photo brings up mixedemotions: I see elegance and formality in these photos.
They had modest lives.
My grandfather was a gardener by profession.
There is a level of care and specialness in dress and arrangement.
Only a year later, they would lose everything.
Later, they would be imprisoned at camps in Arkansas and Jerome.
“This photo was taken on May 24, 1976, in Anand, Gujarat, in India.
(We moved to the United States when I was a kid.)
Theirs was the first love marriage in the village.
What I love the most about this picture is how happy and innocent they look.
My mother was 22 and my father was 23.
Running away from home was a new concept back then.
They were walking into the unknown and took a leap of faith relying on one another.”
“This photo of my grandparents was taken in ’40s or ’50s Vietnam.
I love how they posed in this picture.
It reminds me of how they managed to stay together despite the troubles and arguments.
“My parents pictured here at their wedding banquet.
After those six years, they got married and my dad was able to immigrate as well.”
“My grandparents, Henry and Wendy.
When my grandparents were alive, they were living relics.
Now that both have passed, it’s a fragment of a story that remains incomplete.”
They both just retired recently.”
“The photo was taken Feb. 9, 1951, in Japan.
A military veteran of three wars: World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
My grandmother, Jinko Muraoka Pong, was Japanese.
She made sure her children and grandchildren stayed connected to their Asian heritage.”
They met at a college party and have been married since 1976."
“Heres a photo of my parents in 1970, arriving in the U.S. as postdocs from India.
Immigrants get the job done!”
“Here are my Japanese grandparents playing team solitaire.”
This photo was taken when they first came to America from Taiwan in 1983, I believe.
They opened a Chinese restaurant in 1990 called Mings Garden and just retired in 2019.
I love them dearly."
“My parents have been married for over 44 years.
They met in college through my dad’s best friend in the Philippines.
This photo was taken at my grandfather’s house when we would go have lunch there every Sunday.”
I certainly didn’t think of them as stylish when I was growing up!
This post was previously published onHuffPost.
