Personal Writing: Fortunate to be in America “America.” Twenty years ago, this simple word was the essence of all my parents' hopes. To them, America was a land of dreams and vast opportunities. My father and mother believed that this country would be their rainbow, so to speak, that would inevitably lead them to their own pot of gold. Two years ago, I returned to Vietnam, the homeland of my family and the root of all my parents' desires. I was astonished to find myself living in the most impoverished and unsanitary conditions I had ever experienced. For the first time in my life, I truly realized how fortunate I was