Happy Memorial Day!!!

"I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world."
- Socrates

Happy Memorial Day! On this very important, American Holiday, we hope everyone has a relaxing and fun day…

Today as Americans we honor one of greatest attributes of citizenship, service to one’s country…During Anthony’s giving and receiving ceremony one week ago (can you believe it, he has been with our family for one week!), the government official said a few words…One of the things that she asked us to do was to raise our son as a good citizen….We keep thinking about that, What does this mean? How to do we fulfill that request? What is a citizen?

Well, according to Webster’s Dictionary, a citizen is “a native or naturalized individual who owes allegiance to a government (as of a state or nation) and is entitled to the enjoyment of governmental protection and to the exercise of civil rights.” OK…That seems easy enough….When he enters the US and his feet touch the ground, according to current laws, he will “officially” be a US citizen…So with a bunch of paperwork and waiting (a lot of waiting) his path to American citizenship is clear and obvious….

But, what about this idea of being raised as a good citizen? What makes someone a good citizen? We guess that is a matter of opinion…but attributes like community service, civic participation and pride, working to make your community, country and world a better place and other good works/deeds can make a good citizen…..We also feel that making our son a contributing member not only of his new country of the USA is important, but giving him the tools necessary to be a “true” good citizen of the world…This is important for all of us, but we want him to know that, yes, he is an American…but an American that appreciates his personal roots and culture (and the individual and cultural differences that exist in our country and the world)…He may be raised as an Italian/Irish catholic American…but when he looks at the globe he should be also able to point to Vietnam as his birth place.

We have been told several times on the street, in restaurants, shops, etc….by many Vietnamese people…that he is very lucky (although in reality we are the lucky ones that have been given this amazing angel to our lives)…That he is going from “hell to heaven.” We are not sure if that is entirely accurate…although we present him with a life that is certainly socially and economically better with greater opportunities, there is something to be said for the resilience, kindness and passion of the Vietnamese people. Although in many respects economically poor, we see a people that are very hard working, family oriented, and all together kind to one another (and foreigners). They have the same dreams, hopes and desires that human beings have throughout the world…That their children, and children’s children, be more fortunate then themselves…That the future generations will have it easier then themselves...with greater prosperity and success…So regardless of distance, time, politics, or whatever, we want him to understand that he comes from a proud people and nation with a rich history, culture and traditions that are important to understand and respect…The best teaching / parenting tool that we as parents (can you believe it we are parents!) is example…So if we can show him that we respect and honor his roots and culture, maybe that would give him the tools to appreciate and honor other’s differences as well…

As we look at the world today, its turmoil, hunger, hatred, violence, tragedy, and so on…You have to ask yourself, if we were all good “global citizens,” that understood, or at a minimum, acknowledged, respected and appreciated all of our individual, religious and cultural differences…Would not the world be a better place…??

We can only hope that Anthony is given the opportunity to be different in his own way…but at the same time respect others…and we can only hope that the future and his world that he will raise his children in will be one of mutual understanding, respect and working together for the common good of us all….Truly being a good citizen of the world…

So what did we do on our holiday…? We took a great half day guided tour of the city….We visited the temple of literature (dedicated to Confucius), the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Hanoi Hilton (the famous POW camp where John McCain was held), and saw the famous Hanoi water puppet show…Very interesting experience…

We had our first baby injury today….While taking his bath (with both of us in the bathroom), baby Anthony slipped and cut his face near his eye…no major problems or bleeding…we were more upset than he was…hopefully no “shiner.” So we had our first parenting “panic attack.” After talking to both sets of grandparents for advice, we are doing a little better…

Here are some pictures from our day today….We will work on some video tomorrow...

The Chief Buddhist tomb at the Tran Quoc Pagoda


The temple in honor of the Chief Buddhist


An altar honoring the spirits of the dead in the pagoda.


Daddy feeding baby with chop sticks...


Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum



Ho Chi Minh's honor guard



The one pillar pagoda...built in about 10000AD...


The entrance to the temple of literature...considered to be the first university in Vietnam...

One of the beautiful flowers at the temple..

Altar honoring Confucius.

Hot baby!!!

Inside the grounds of the temple.

Inside the famous "Hanoi Hilton" where many US pilots where held during the war including John McCain.

The prison was originally built by the colonial French to hold Vietnamese prisoners and patriots.

Famous picture of Sen. McCain visiting the prison during his visit to Vietnam in 2000.

John McCain's flight suit.

The water puppet show

The puppeteers

Little Anthony taking his bath (before he got hurt).