Editor's Note: Make Memories This Holiday

These are some of my fondest memories of Christmas. Not because of the physicality of the presents, but the significance of them—and the events to follow.

My mom and dad are two of the most hardworking, caring, giving and selfless people I know. With whatever was left in their pockets, they both fled to the U.S. during the Vietnam War, so they know struggle. As they grew their lives together in this foreign country, facing financial hardships and slowly building their impregnable empire, they made sure that their children did not endure and experience a single ounce of struggle that they did. And while my brother and I did not necessarily need (or deserve, really) to have every single present crossed off our Christmas lists each year, they did so out of love, because they wanted us both to live fruitful lives.