What We Take Away

Preface

This book is a love letter and a message in a bottle to my 18-year old self. 

It is an ode for every person who has stumbled through the ups and downs of growing up, making mistakes along the way, only to discover their inner tenacity and courage through the process.

Many of the conversations, characters, and places of this novel are based on true interactions, locations, and real events. However, I have taken creative license where the story requires imagination and discretion. It is not my intent to defame or dishonor any person who has inspired a character in my story, but to depict people and events with integrity. 

College life in the mid-2000's was an interesting time. 

Social media such as Facebook was in its early stages (back then, its function was just to be an online college address book where you could find your classmates); cell phones were literally just cell phones (no one managed their entire lives on one device and texting was quite expensive!). 

On the whole, student social life was abundant, rowdy, and much less virtual. Following 9-11, it was not uncommon for students to defer college and go fight in the war (eventually known as the Global War on Terrorism). Trauma was not very well understood, but many people endured it and nearly everyone had a friend or knew someone who was serving overseas.

There are themes of Christianity threaded through this story. 

It is not my intent to make a statement about faith but to tell the story through the lens of the main characters and their beliefs. It is my hope that the reader will glean something new from seeing the world through the eyes of Cassie, Zac, and Aram -- all of whom hold different beliefs and convictions on matters of God, heaven, and hell. 

The mid-2000's also mark the prominence of Christian purity culture at its height. This story explores the hidden and nuanced impact of Christian purity culture on women and men. More often than not, the impact of Christian purity culture on the characters in this story is a negative one.

Immigrant family dynamics are rich, layered, and complex. 

Ba's disposition and behavior towards Cassie may come across as harsh and unloving to some readers, but there are always multiple sides to a story. Part of growing up is learning how to accept your parents as human and flawed, and realizing that perhaps our parents have done and are doing the best they know how to do.

I hope this story touches you and humanizes the messy, complicated people in your life. May it help you realize the ways you've grown and are still growing. Here's to all the red-letter moments of being fresh -- electrifying first kisses and devastating heartbreaks and all of what we take away in the glorious golden years of our youth.