Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, and Advice for Living Your Best Life

by Ali Wong

My mom visited me during my semester abroad. Getting to see her speak with comfort and ease in her native tongue, in the country where she was born, made me really happy. But it also made me sad—I had not previously known what a confident and funny person she actually was.

And I appreciate that I don’t have to defend why a bean belongs in a dessert.

It made me realize that the most important part of parenting, relationships, pretty much anything—is just actually being there.

So I’m saying you need both—your community and what lies outside it.

We would share the same first language.