Transforming Tears preserves the life of your grandfather, Henry AhVeng Chia, tracing his experiences through war, poverty, family, cultural change, immigration, and faith. What did you most want to preserve about your grandfather for future generations?

As the title is “Transforming Tears,” I wanted to preserve my grandfather’s resilience through all his suffering to show how he turned his tears from sadness to tears of joy at the end of his life, living in an abundance of blessings. He started out with such a harsh life and survived so much but in the end he chose to not let it define him and to pave his own legacy for his family that would stick with us for generations to come. It is with his blessing that I share his story with the world and preserve the faith and hope of him, that one man that built the foundation of his family so that I can be here today to share not only his story, but my other family member’s, people I’ve met, and ultimately, my own. 

The book suggests that survival is about more than simply enduring difficult circumstances. What did you want to explore about rebuilding a life after hardship?

Survival means taking the necessary steps to embrace your life as your own and pave your own path. No one else can walk that journey for you. I wanted to explore what it means to truly accept one’s past in full and to not allow it to define you but to propel you forward to personal growth and self-awareness. I wanted to explore what it truly means to rebuild a life after hardship knocks you down and leaves you feeling like you have hit rock bottom. I wanted to explore how survival is the means of trying when it might feel like there is no point in going on. Survival is an internal instinct to do what you have to do to live this life and sometimes it means making difficult decisions or sacrifices, proving resilience and strength time and time again as my grandfather did. I am honored to be his granddaughter and to follow in his footsteps to survive and do the hard things.

One of the book’s strongest ideas is that an individual’s choices can affect generations. How have you seen your grandfather’s choices reflected in your own family?

My grandfather’s resilience is definitely reflected in my own family for sure, along with general stubbornness and strength. His independent choices to leave behind a legacy and the art of storytelling is also something that has been passed on as I know that each one of us in the family have a desire to leave a legacy behind too and that we cherish the stories of our heritage and the memories that we are making in our own lives. I have most certainly taken his writing from him as he wrote so much each and everyday, journaling every little thing and I can see how many of us, especially me, record all the memories and moments of life that I possibly can. His choice to settle in the United States and become a citizen also paved the way for more of the family to make their way over to the U.S. and it has truly opened endless opportunities for us that we are beyond thankful for. 

The book closes with the idea that “stories are forever.”  What do you hope future generations of your own family, as well as readers who never knew Henry AhVeng Chia, will remember about him after reading Transforming Tears?

I truly do believe that stories are forever as my dream is to be employed by a publishing company to write narrative nonfiction books on the real life stories of underrepresented people! I hope that after people read “Transforming Tears” that they will be inspired to share their own story and engage in the storytelling legacy. I hope that the art of passing ancestral stories down to future generations will never be lost. I hope to tell my own children one day all about the different members of our family and about my own story and I hope that they are able to learn moral lessons from them and how we are to spread kindness in this dark world. I hope to teach them the importance of storytelling and the power of resilience that I truly hope people can see by reading my grandfather’s story. I hope that everyone will be inspired and encouraged to keep fighting in this life and that they are seen and their story can make a difference.

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