A last True Ped story

When Ped's family left Laos, his other grandfather (not the one who lived to be 105) said to leave Ped with him. Ped was seven, but someone had to stay to help grandpa. While he was there, he learned cooking from his aunt, a street vendor.

When Ped's grandpa died, he came to the United States where his mom picked up where his aunt had left off with the cooking lessons. We did not have to train Ped when he came to True Thai — Ped already knew how to cook and he went from caring for his grandfather to helping to provide for his parents and sisters.

Ped is gone now, but he is still there for his parents, making sure they are taken care of. Even in death, Ped cares for others. 

Guilty

As you've heard, Amy Senser was found guilty on two counts, and acquitted on the third charge due to legislative incompetence in writing DUI laws.

I do not know if this was justice, but we will find out July 9 when Mrs. Senser is sentenced. By then I hope she has found it in her heart to confess her crimes so the family can forgive her.

True Ped for Thursday

I hate to admit it, but both Ped and I have something in common with Amy Senser. Both Ped and I could not drink alcohol. My father got hives if he tried to drink and so do I, and I was surprised to learn that the same thing happened to Ped when he tried to drink.

So the truth is, neither Ped or I could finish a glass of wine either.

True Ped for Wednesday

Ped worked very quickly, but he was also good at waiting. I am not so patient. I wish the jury would hurry up and find Amy guilty.

True Ped for Tuesday

Thirteen days after Ped's mom gave birth to him unassisted, she had to flee with him across the Mekong River to escape the bombings.

True Ped for Monday

Ped loved the colors white and blue. All his t-shirts were white, and he wore blue jeans most of the time. Almost everything Ped owned was either white or blue.

Ped had two birds, one named Fa and the other one Kao. You guessed it: Fa is Lao for blue, and Kao is Lao for white.

For trial links, click here.

True Ped for Sunday

Because of martial law, Ped's mother could not go to the hospital when he was born, and she delivered him at home unassisted.

True Ped for Saturday

Ped was from Laos and I was from Thailand, but we had many things in common. For example, Ped lived next to a Buddhist temple. I lived right behind a Catholic cathedral.

Ped lived next door to a boxing camp. My dad was a Muay Thai boxing promoter.

But we had big differences, too. Ped's dad was in the Lao Royal Army, but no one in the Prasomphol family ever went into the military. War ravaged Laos, but never touched Thailand.

One other thing we had in common. We have both run out of gas in America. The big difference is that I lived to tell about it.

True Ped for Friday

Life was not easy in Laos, but that did not stop Ped's grandfather from living to be 105 years old.

Americans often seem to think that they live longer than anyone else, but my great-grandmother lived to be 107, and she spent her life working as a street vendor. Great-grandmother Mai worked until she was 100, and then she retired.

For more links about the trial, click here.

True Ped for Thursday

Ped lived a simple life. I made him get a cell phone, but it was a point of pride to him that he did not know how to retrieve or send text messages. Ped could leave a voice mail, and that was good enough for him. If you wanted to talk to him, you had to talk to him because if you left a voice mail, he'd never listen to it because he never bothered to learn how to retrieve them.

I am sure there are many, many voice mails and text messages on Ped's cell phone because while he never checked his messages, he also never deleted any of them.

To read all the latest trial links, click here.

True Ped for Wednesday

Like many, many Southeast Asians, Ped did not like to have his picture taken because he kind of believed that each picture of you shortened your life. But he loved his baby nephew Sebastian so much, he could not resist having his picture taken with Sebastian.

You can see that picture again here. Everyone is welcome to use it, but please credit True Thai.

Again, all links to new news stories about the trial are here.

Testimony and tears

After the prosecution played the first 911 call from a nurse who worked at Riverside Hospital, they played the second 911 call. The woman was crying because she had never seen a dead body before. The force of the collision did not tear Ped's pants down to his knees as reported earlier. They were around his ankles.

The woman that called in that information to 911 was crying on the stand as she listened to herself cry on the 911 tape. Ped's family and I were all crying too.

Today's testimony was very hard to listen to, but this trial will not get any easier for Ped's family or me. This is much, much harder than I thought it would be. In the picture, all the clothing Ped was wearing except his socks and underwear were gifts I had given him.

Ped was wearing a white t-shirt with a map of Laos with a red dot showing where he was born. I gave him that t-shirt years ago. Actually, I gave him two Lao map t-shirts, but the other one was yellow and he never wore it.

Ped always wore jeans, but he had been with friends earlier that night and he was wearing some khaki pants I had bought him. What made me cry out loud was seeing his shoes. .

When Sadé's manager paid for the food Ped made for the singer and her band, the manager gave me a $200 tip and told me to buy some new shoes. Well, I split the tip with the cooks but I also bought Ped a new pair of tennis shoes for $89, size 8 1/2. I never saw him wear those shoes but when they showed the picture of his body laying on that exit ramp, one was next to his body and the other one by his car, forty feet away.

Too many tears today.