I’ve been reading everyone’s reflections from the Khmer Diaspora Conference. The photos. The gratitudes. The connections.
I felt all of that too.
But I didn’t want it to end there.
So I followed up.
I wrote and texted thank you notes. My first went out to Ming and Pou, who welcomed us into their home like family for dinner. I replied back to the larger group with my gratitude. I met Oun Oussa in Bryant Park. I had video calls with Oun Amee, and then with Oun Malisa. I emailed Dean Kim and Chancellor Chen at UMass Lowell to share my support for Dr. Christine Su. I exchanged emails with Bong Kalyanee Mam. I sent photos to people who asked, and asked for photos in return. I commented on posts. I reintroduced myself in the Cambodian Professional Network, leaving the door open for connection.
I also sat with what moved me and wrote about it afterwards. About meeting Pou Leth Oun and what his memoir stirred in me, and about the Taste of the Land screening and the conversations that followed. That was its own kind of follow-up: not logistical, but personal. It was my way of trying to hold onto what I felt before it faded. The inspiration. The feelings of being seen and understood.
I also chatted and cried with my hubby and also with my friends about what I experienced. About what it meant for me to simply be in the same room with so many Khmers who might be feeling what I have been feeling.
None of this was complicated. But none of it was automatic either.
Community doesn’t sustain itself because we had a meaningful weekend. It sustains because someone follows up.
I’m 42, and this isn’t the first time I’ve tried to build or find community. It doesn’t always stick. Sometimes it fades. Sometimes people don’t respond. Sometimes life simply moves on.
But that doesn’t mean we stop trying. (I won’t stop trying.) Because some thing will still come from trying. Friendships. Conversations. Things.
What felt different this time wasn’t just the conference itself. It was what I chose to do after.
If we’re talking about the next 50 years, it won’t be shaped by one conference. It will be shaped by what we do in the weeks after we go home.
I don’t have a perfect formula for this. I’m just choosing not to let it end.
One message.
One follow-up.
One conversation at a time.
That’s how I’m trying to keep it alive.
If you were there and we haven’t connected yet, my door is open. I’d love to hear from you.
This 1000 times!