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THE AMERICAN DREAM WORDs Dwain Hebda images courtesy Dr. Quyen Ha
The Ha Family
T
There are very few things in life that can cloud Dr. Quyen
deliverance throughout the first several decades of life. It is
Ha’s sunny disposition. Talking to the Vietnamese immigrant,
those very trials, the suffering of hardship, that rounds out his
who since 2013 has practiced medicine in Fort Smith, is a
laugh as the multi-hued melody that it is. For only those who
cacophony of laughter, upbeat observations and optimism for
have tasted sorrow can know life’s full sweetness.
the future. “I think if I hadn’t gone through things in my life, I wouldn’t It is not the voice of someone who has known only joy that
be who I am today,” he says. “I know I wouldn’t be the
you hear, however – far from it. It is a voice that has cried
physician I am today, and I would not be as successful as I am
out in longing, wept in mourning and prayed fervently for
today caring for my patients.”
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