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“If there’s anything I can do to help them relieve of their suffering, I vow to help. My dear friends! In this new place, you will find stability to reinvent your lives. And always remember that we will have the memory of our beautiful homeland to revisit in our hearts.” “My sweet sister, do you ever dream about yellow apricot blossoms by the terrace in past springs? I’m now in the west, so far away missing all very much in my heart! My dear brother, do you ever dream about red firecrackers all over the city? Young women, dresses, and brocade shoes, and flowing tresses in the breeze, leisurely strolls on emerald grass, tender memories... Last night I dreamt of my hometown seeing my brothers and sisters, so much to talk about! Beside a bowl of savory spinach soup and lullabies melodious as the rhythm of the swinging hammock. Oh, how I miss the thatched house of old! Mother, hair graying, gentle as the cool shade of coconut groves, Father, dignified as in the saintly kings’ eras, And Grandma’s tasty meals that warmed the rainy winter! And sisters and brothers and the fragrant rice field and past adolescent love like a sad refrain! All swept away by the bloody river of war dissolved in that evening of chaos long ago.”“My world has just been turned upside down!” “It isn’t the lovely kingdom It is someone here I could love My heart wouldn’t be here if she were not. Maybe it’s the way that she smiles Maybe it’s the gentle tone from her lips Or the warmth and sparkle of her eyes I don’t know what! And the most beautiful one on the planet! I see her everywhere And that most beautiful face That endearing aura I’m here, does she know? I am here, so near. It isn’t the lovely kingdom It is someone here Someone to love.”“I’m such a ‘Rent’ fan. To see Adam Pascal, live, and I was in the second row, it was just a dream come true. Shirley Jones, Betty Buckley, I mean these are just Broadway legends. I mean Shirley Jones, ‘Carousel,’ ‘Oklahoma!’ The last duet (‘Our Time’), it just brought chills down my spine, it’s just so powerful. With great lyrics and a great composition, it’s very beautiful. Through all of the hatred that we have in this world and all of the wars and the suffering, and the fact that She [Supreme Master Ching Hai] can still find a path of happiness, enlightenment is just so inspiring. Especially as an artist, it’s something that I’ll certainly keep with me for quite some time.”
