My grandma is very nice and she has a kind heart. Every time we go to her house she will make good food for us to eat. My grandma has a talent for sewing. She can make the most beautifulest paj ntaub. At first I didn’t know what it was so I asked her, “what is that?” Then she told me, “it’s a paj ntaub” (a flower cloth). My grandma and her mom will make those and sell them to people and get money. It took my grandma three months to learn the method of how to sew. In that three months, she learned how to sew paj ntaub effectively. Everyday my grandma helped her mother sew paj ntaub to make some money. Then my grandma got married to my grandpa. When my aunties were born, they were also taught to sew paj ntaub. Then the Secret War happen and the Hmong fled for their lives in fear of genocide. My grandparents went to Thailand and then to the U.S. Luckily they brought their  paj ntaub skills here to teach the next generations. I think this story is important because it tells me where paj ntaub came from and how it can be past on from generation to generation only if you teach it. One thing that hasn’t changed in my grandma’s work is that she still uses her own hands to sew paj ntaub just like she did 40 years ago.  If you don’t teach others about your talent it will be forgotten.   

– L. Thao

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant