Coming to America as an orphan, I didn’t carry anything. Someone carried me. I arrived in the United States at JFK airport on September 30, 1976, with the pajamas I was wearing and one can of Korean baby formula. This empty can is the only one thing left of my life in Korea. Through _ choice of my own, I left everything else behind – family, country, language, culture, identity—to come to a new country that didn’t quite accept me.
I didn’t realize how much I lost until I was much older. But I was fortunate to be given a second chance, with a new family that loved me and in a new country that provided opportunity. My identity will always be stuck somewhere between Korea and America, and I have never felt quite Asian or American. But I have come to peace with living in a place between.
Liani Jeanheh Reeves,
Formerly known as Shin Kyong Ok