Sour Sdey

Nine days after my mother turned twelve, her life ended. This first letter is an introduction. No Trigger Warnings for this one post but be aware that this newsletter is about the Cambodian Genocide.

Nine days after my mother turned twelve, her life ended.

She didn't exist anymore, not according to the Khmer Rouge regime that overtook Cambodia from April 17, 1975, to January 7, 1979.

This newsletter may be hard to read for some people, and I will do my best to apply the appropriate trigger warnings before each post, but I encourage you to read for my mother's sake and for the sake of the little sister she lost. Six-year-old Tari was denied a proper resting place, along with millions of others. I think part of my mom died with her. The things my mother suffered still affect her 44 years later, even in the middle of a small suburb near Fort Worth, Texas, where she hoped she could be safe from the kinds of people who treated her and her family like animals. I just ask that you maintain a willingness to suspend your disbelief. Maybe one day, I'll collect these stories into some coherent timeline, bound, and placed on shelves for the curious. But for now, these snippets will do because it's more important I get them written and shared as soon as possible.

There is an ongoing crisis my family is going through at this moment that has brought a lot of my mother’s PTSD to the surface. We need all the support we can get as I work on this and my other projects in the midst of it all. Please subscribe to this section of “Neaksai’s Substack” to stay appraised. Some of the things mentioned in this newsletter are tough. I originally made my Substack for my art and writing, so I don’t want someone who follows me for something fun and art related to be shocked without warning.

Edit:

I have now made a stand-alone Substack for these stories as I realized that readers can’t subscribe to sections without subscribing to the entire stack and for similar reasons mentioned above, I don’t want those following my mother’s story to be surprised by animation reviews or more light-hearted projects unless they want them.

On that note, please consider subscribing to my other stacks. :)