they see their own daughters, just as ignorant, just as unmindful of all the truths and hopes they have brought to America. They see daughters who grow impatient when their mothers talk in Chinese. . . . They see that joy and luck do not mean the same thing to their daughters. . . . They see daughters who will bear grandchildren born without any connecting hope passed from generation to generation (31).
She promises the others to remember her mother and tell her sisters about their mother's life story and wonderful nature. The promise gives the others hope and sets in motion the beginning of her own spiritual connection with generations past and generations to come.
There is a strong sense of duty in the stories told by the women---duty to family, duty to keep pledges made, duty to the memory of one's kin. Lindo Jong tells her story in such a way that
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