My episode of LITTLE AMERICA based on my mom is out now on @AppleTV. I'm so thankful I got to tell this story:

Basically, when we were growing up my family never had enough money to go on vacation, so instead every year my mom would take us to the Vacation Expo...

*thread*

We'd just go and look at the vacations we could go on if we DID have money.

I think it was my mom's way of trying to provide us some small piece of the experience of other kids our age, who'd always be heading to ski vacations, etc.

Even though we didn't have much, my mom would always try to make it feel like we weren't missing out on what other kids had.

Another thing about my mom is she always gets places super early (this is important for later).

Even now if we get on a domestic flight we get to the airport 2 hours early. If it's an international flight she's been known to go to the airport the night before.

So, one year when I was 16 and my sis was 12 she woke us up at 6am to go to the Vacation Expo. It was still dark out.

We get in the car and head into Boston and there's a freak snowstorm.

I remember being in the car and like, it's pretty dangerous. Whiteout conditions.

When we got to the Vacation Expo, the parking lot was empty except for the Vendors, who'd been setting up the night before.

So we go inside, and the place is deserted. Some of the vendors were asking for their money back from the exhibitors.

And my mom looked around and was like:

"Let's enter every single raffle."

So we entered all the raffles and a couple days later we got contacted and we'd WON AN ALASKAN CRUISE and also a TIMESHARE.

The timeshare was a scam, but the Alaskan Cruise was real.

The cruise was only for two people so we still had to buy an extra ticket and pay for flights. But luckily our car had gotten T-boned the month earlier, and we had insurance money and so we just didn't fix the car and spent it on that instead.

We couldn't believe it. It was the first time we'd been on a luxury vacation before.

The episode is based on that cruise experience, and also about my mom seeing her children growing up, and her dealing with trauma from her own childhood.

This is all to say that I'm so thankful for these experiences, and for my mom's tenacity in trying to provide for us. Both in basic necessities like housing, school, food. But also intangibles like love, stability, and showing us we were always her first priority.

Even though my family wasn't like others growing up, I think it made me and my sister who we are today.

I really hope you like the episode. The actors @AngelaLinDotCom, X Lee, and Madeleine Chang did an incredible job of portraying our family.

I can tell you it's a surreal experience and amazing experience to be able to tell my mom's story and watch it play out onscreen.

If you haven't yet, please check out the episode which is streaming now at @AppleTV.