Tribune offers feature on Marian Days

Columbia Tribune reporter Mary T. Nguyen offers a personal look at the just-completed Marian Days celebration in Carthage, which she says is becoming more Americanized, in the same way as the Vietnamese who make the annual pilgrimage to southwest Missouri. Ms. Nguyen offered the following reflections:

My family began attending 28 years ago. As one unit, we traveled more easily from our hometown of Kansas City. But as my siblings and I have grown up, traveling as a family is more difficult. We still manage to come together from St. Louis, Columbia and even Houston for our annual family tradition. Even when we can’t all be there, we know how important it is to have at least four of the six children present with our parents for the event.

As I listened to the sermon, it dawned on me how important this festival is for me and my family as well as the thousands of families surrounding me. I understood how my parents - who at my age were embarking on a whole new life - have found a bridge between Vietnam and America in this event. For four days, they are one.

And for our family, and my fellow first-generation siblings and peers, this event will become one of many new traditions that our parents or grandparents have established for us to build upon.'
This celebration for Mary isn’t just about reflecting upon the past. It has changed to focusing on the future in such a way that she is not simply a symbol of salvation but also a matriarchal figure for a growing community of Vietnamese-Americans hoping to find a place they can call home again.