Although I was born into poverty, Id worked hard my entire life. As a child, I worked long, hard hours on the farm. As a youth, I left home in search of a better life for myself and my two sons, landing work that I was ashamed of to this day. After I came to America, I continued working hard to provide for my families in the United States and Southeast Asia and to bring my sons to America, where I thought they would have a better life. My success in America stemmed in large part from my ability to care for people with severe developmental disabilities. With this talent, I built a company that eventually employed sixty-five people and provided care for dozens of individuals. Throughout it all, I believed in family. In fact, I believed in the concept of family so strongly that, looking back, I see that it often skewed the reality of my situation. In 2014, after illness and a series of challenges put my career as a health-care provider on hold, I found myself in extremely unfamiliar territoryI was forced to take a hard look at my life and reexamine my beliefs and values. And what Ive come to realize, in part, is that my fortune that I discovered in America has also been the root of my problems.
