Tessa Vannasinh Emery

In Loving Memory of
Tessa Vannasinh Emery
Tessa (Yai) Vannasinh Emery, cooked and ate her way to our hearts with her joy of food and thirst to try new things. An honest and authentic person that friends and family easily trusted, she had us with her genuine, infectious smile. Tessa (Yai) Vannasinh Emery of Mount Holly, NC, passed peacefully away on March 5, 2017 of cancer at the tender age of 39. She held on for as long as she could so that she could connect with everyone she needed to before letting go and returning home to be with the other angels and her heavenly Father.  With her two older sisters, Vannalynn and Anne, she got to travel in "first class" inside her mother's womb through the jungles and river of Laos to Thailand. Shortly after their arrival, Tessa felt the mode of transport was getting a little cramped, and so on the evening of January 18, 1978 Tessa was born in a refugee camp, where she met her favorite cousins for the first time.  In the winter of 1979, she immigrated to America with her family where she got to taste her first Sprite and— you know what—she didn't want to share.  When she was just 8 years old, she would be upset with her mother if she wasn't taught how to make a new favorite dish her mother just made. She had to learn how to make it – like, right now! Though a great cook herself, she loved being indulged on with the homemade cooking of her mother and sister, Vannalynn.  Tessa thought of Vannalynn as having a gypsy soul and she loved that about her. No matter how far her older sister moved, Tessa always drove to see how she was doing. That's just the kind of baby sister she was. Thanks to their mother, their loyalty to each other was unwavering and was always ready to comfort and defend each other.  If her friends or family made any new dish she loved, her eyes would light up. She'd say, "could you teach me how to make this and give me the recipe"? If you missed something, she would call you for sure.  When she was a little girl, she told Anne, "I want to grow up to be a doctor so I can help people". She faced a lot of challenges growing up which detoured her some, but not for long since she was strong and determined.  She loved how deeply proud her mother was of her when she conquered obstacles and graduated as a nurse. "Nursing changed her life in many ways and it made her big heart even bigger", her cousin Boum remembers. She enjoyed helping others and her job very much.  On her patient routes near her mother's home, she would stop by to check on and have lunch with her. "I always looked forward to our lunches together." As soon as bamboo season arrives, mother and daughter would go pick them together. Her mother laughs and adds, "if she couldn't come with, then Tessa would persistently call me to go pick them before they're all gone because she loved fresh bamboo shoots." Her mother had to go get them—like, right now.  When she was 16, she had a car accident which broke her right leg and had to receive a metal rod in it. This little detail is important for later…  To her, patience was a virtue that she danced with from time to time and was not ready to fully commit to as a teen until she became a nurse. Then in 2003, when she first set her eyes on her baby boy, Maddox, she was overwhelmed with adoration and complete love and patience for him.  Tessa and Kenneth (Kenny) have been together since 2001, and in 2007, they got married and devoted their lives to raising their son—providing and supporting him with everything he may need to be a great man one day. Her boys were her world.  Tessa absolutely loved her in-laws. Kenny's family loved to kid around with her and enjoyed her sense of humor tremendously.  "She's more than a daughter-in-law, she's a true daughter to me and our entire family loves her very much. For those 16 years, she has made my life such a joy. I love to giggle with her", exclaims Janet (mother-in-law).  She and Kenny looked up to his kind, strong "go-getting" Grandma, Ninny, who was married for 59 years and seemed invincible to them. The young couple wanted the same kind of love and marriage their Ninny had and knew what it took to get there.  Oh, and remember that metal rod in Tessa's right leg? Well, in 2004 Kenny was in an accident and received a metal rod in his right leg just like her. These two were soulmates in so many ways.  After the accident, Tessa, her mother, Kenny and one-year old Maddox celebrated life and each other by tying blessing strings on each other's arms. They were a tight little unit.  Tessa loved to cook both Laotian and American food and she was good at it. When Thanksgiving or Christmas rolled around and if she was spending it with her mother's side of the family, she always made delicious American Thanksgiving feast as well as Laotian favorites so that everyone was taken care of. She loved and doted on her 3 nieces and 3 nephews and always thought about what they'll need. They all adored her.  Food and travel was her pleasure, but her friends and family were her passion and priority. A feisty sweetheart, she stood her ground on things that truly mattered and would defend the people she loved without hesitation. She found great joy in making others happy.  Going the extra mile to show the people in her life how much they mean to her was something she loved doing because seeing the smiles on their faces was something that warmed her heart. If her friends or family needed her and even when her favorite cousins came down for a visit at a spur of the moment, she would always make time for them.  With Maddox and her mother in tow, one of her favorite things to do was to drive up coast so that her mother could visit with her uncle and aunt regularly and to deliver – with the biggest grin on her face, of course – "Hi y'all, how ya'll do'in?" to her favorite cousins.  On her trips, like to Plymouth Rock or to the World Trade Center in NYC, she always made sure to teach her son the history of all the places they visited together. "Seeing her teach Maddox as they walk together where ever they go, was one of my favorite memories of her because I got to see what a loving and awesome mother Tessa became," Anne proudly recalls.  While education was a priority, she always made sure Maddox got to experience and enjoy the things he looked forward to as well, like going to Wahlburgers for the first time.  Her curiosity to taste and travel the world recently took her, Kenny, and Maddox to Belize, Honduras, and Cozumel where the family had a blast. Experience and exposure to life and living were some of the things she wanted to gift her son and husband and, it looks like she gave them the traveling bug now because they're ready to go see the world with her in their  hearts.  Anne said that Tessa always had Jesus in her heart ever since she attended the mission as a little girl. A few weeks ago, her husband witnessed his wife accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior.  Never one to focus on what she didn't have. Instead, she cherished and savored the simple joys of life in much the same way she savored every bite of her favorite dishes. She loved her family. She cherished her friends. And, we all loved her in so many of our own ways. She touched our lives; left us with so much precious memories, and we're all better people for it.  Tessa is survived by her husband Kenneth, her son Maddox, her mother Domsack, her father, Ben; sisters Anne and Vannalynn; brother Billy and sister-in-law Vieng; nephews Chan, Winston, and Alex; nieces Christina, Jocelyn, and Leslie; her favorite cousins, aunts and uncles; and a lot of great friends and extended families.  Forever in our hearts.

The memorial service will be held 2:00 PM Saturday, March 11, 2017, at the South Chapel of Greene Funeral Service in Gastonia.  A private gathering of family and friends to follow service in Kings Mountain.