I hadn’t thought much about my age until I noticed a few fine lines forming around my eyes—hello, little wrinkles! Thirty years under the sun… it’s not a lifetime, but it’s not nothing either.

Maybe I’ll start by sharing a bit about where I come from. I was born and raised in Hanoi, the charming capital of Vietnam. I’m the second of five siblings. My childhood wasn’t particularly exciting, but it wasn’t terribly sad either. It was filled with books, study sessions, and long afternoons watching TV at home.

In my teenage years, I moved to the U.S. for high school and later stayed for college. Somewhere along the way, during an internship in the San Francisco Bay Area, I met my ex-husband. We had a child together, but our relationship ended not long after our son was born.

Now, my son is 9 years old—cheeky, funny, and full of boundless energy. He’s my absolute favorite human, and I could spend all day, every day with him without complaint.

The other day, I was chatting with a new friend when she suddenly asked, “How have your last 30 years been?”
(I know… such a big question to drop on someone you just met, haha.)
But it stuck with me. While I was driving home, I kept turning it over in my head: How has it been?

If I had to sum it all up in one word, it would be: unpredictable.

This life I’m living—none of it is what I imagined. Not the school I went to, not the career path I chose, not the city I’m in now, and definitely not the person I’ve ended up with. And yet, in all its twists and turns, it’s mine. Unscripted, unexpected, and uniquely my own.