Families missing loved ones

Not everyone will be together during this holiday season

For many, the holidays are a time of friends and family coming together to celebrate their special traditions.

However, some are missing family members who are far from home during this time of year.

Karen Klima, a resident of Avon Lake and mother of her two sons who are in the Navy for aviation, said she is spending her first Christmas and New Years away from her sons.

Klima’s oldest son Damyan, 22, currently is in Jacksonville, Fla., finishing school. Her other son Zachary, 20, is in deployment on the USS

Theodore Roosevelt, Nimitz-class aircraft carrier ship.

Damyan Klima has been involved in the Navy since April and his mother said she and her husband, Dennis, can text or speak to him at least three to four times a week.

Dennis Klima speaks with him three to four times in the week.

Karen Klima said Zachary Klima left in January 2017 and has a hard time getting in contact with him.

Zachary Klima can only contact his family by email whenever he is close to land, she said.

At most times, it’s longer than a month when the family can speak to Zach, she said.

“I’m happy that I’m able to talk with Damyan almost every day,” Karen Klima said. “The fact that I can talk to him really helps because we text all day and FaceTime each other.

“It’s still so hard that I can’t see them, especially Zach, because I can’t talk to him, know where he is or know what he’s doing.”

However, Karen Klima said she is proud of her sons to follow in the footsteps of her grandfather and her husband’s grandfather who were in the military.

She also said it helps her a lot that her youngest son, Dylan, 15, is still home.

Dylan is involved with wrestling and shared the same interest with Zach, Karen Klima said.

She said she wishes they could still practice together, but is happy she can spend more time with Dylan and keep busy with him.

“Sometimes I want to cry, but I’m happy for them, too,” Karen Klima said. “It’s hard to hear about people losing their children who are in the service. But I shouldn’t worry because they are still here and doing what they want to do.

“People are going through much worse conditions. I’m lucky, but it’s still hard.”

Support from family and friends

The Klima family has received support from family and friends to help make the time easier, especially nationwide with the Navy Moms and Dad’s Facebook page, Karen Klima said.

The page shows that you’re not the only parent who is in that same position, she said.

Karen Klima looks at the page the first thing in the morning and said she also shares photos with other parents.

She said she is upset this will be her first Christmas not waking up with all of her sons at home.

During Christmas Eve, Karen Klima said her family has had a tradition where they will all get food then go to the movies to normally see “Star Wars” or anything they would all enjoy.

On Christmas Day, the Klima clan normally go to breakfast with her fatherin-law. But this year, she said they won’t continue that tradition because two of her sons are gone and her father-in-law wants to celebrate with breakfast when they get back home.

Karen Klima said she’s proud they are doing what they want to do and that it will make them become better men in life, but can’t

wait to see them come home.

She’s said Damyan will be home for two weeks in March before he goes to San Diego, and if all goes as planned, Zach will be home in May.

Karen Klima said she hopes that for the Holidays this year, her military sons can celebrate and receive emails or calls from them.

She said wishes that all members in the service are able to celebrate and have a chance to speak with family or loved ones, also.

Long way from home

Bill or Bao Le, 23, from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is a former Lorain County Community College student now living in Alabama.

Le said this time of the year, he’s always away from his family.

He said he has been in America for over six years, mostly all on his own.

Le said he came to America at 17 years old because he wanted to look for a new life with somewhere that offered more opportunities.

Le said his mother traveled with him to Alexandria, Va., and stayed for a month until he settled in on his own while he began his senior year at a Catholic high school there.

“I wanted to see the world and how it’s so different from what I’ve known my whole life,” Le said. “It’s a whole new life, coming to a new place where no one knows you. I like to learn and see new stuff.”

He said while trying to learn a brand-new lifestyle, he had to listen to everything and process all he wasn’t familiar with.

“Coming from a different place where you live differently, it was hard to adjust when you didn’t know what

people were talking about,” he said. “The language barrier was the most difficult, but it comes along.

“My teachers really helped me understand and learn things, and because I love learning new things and meeting people, it made it easier.”

College life

After graduating from high school, Le moved to Elyria to attend LCCC.

From 2012-14, Le said he studied computer science and worked in the IT Department.

Le then transferred to the University of Toledo and only spent a year. He then transferred to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, which is where he said he resides today.

Le plans to graduate in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems, a mix between business and computer data processing, and said he will be in search for a job after.

“You have to study to learn new things,” Le said about travel. “If I could do it, I would do it again, but just in different places. America has much to learn.”

After not being home for so long, and because tickets can be expensive to travel, Le said he doesn’t visit home often.

During his time in America, he said he’s only been home twice; once in 2014 and 2016.

When he has visited, he said it’s different to him and feels like he has to learn things all over again.

While being away from home, Le said he doesn’t have much of a hard time without being with his family throughout the years.

He said they all stream online with each other to

just catch up and talk all the time.

However, he did say that streaming isn’t the same as hugging them and being with them.

Celebrating the holidays

Because there is no Christmas in Vietnam, Le said he used to love attending Vietnam’s New Years Eve during the end of January into February.

TET is what the celebration is called and said it is celebrated like Thanksgiving while eating delicious foods, seeing flowers and having all of the family get together.

Le said it was the best time for youngsters because if they wished for good health for their elders in the family, they would receive money, which was called Lucky Money to them.

Due to semesters starting in January, Le said he’s unable to celebrate and see his family.

He said he wishes he could see them in real life, but is happy that he can talk with them, especially his 17-year-old brother.

Le said his mom had visited him for the first time in years during December.

After graduating from college and getting a job in his field, Le said he would like to visit home in the next three years.

In Alabama, there is an area Le said he visits where there are many Vietnamese people.

He said he loves sharing stories of home and making certain dishes to share with them. He said it isn’t home, but it helps.

Le said he will celebrate Christmas this year by cooking and spending it with good friends.