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We come here as refugees.
And we get a job at America Fabric Company.
They pay me $3.50 every hour.
I'm happy with my job.
Here, the country is the best country of the world.
You know, anything they can help you
they never put you down.
But you have to work yourself, too.
Sandy Taing's cinnamon rolls are legendary in Sacramento.
Her family's hopes, passion, and perserverance
are baked into each one.
In 1980, Sandy and her husband Larry
fled the war in Cambodia
and came to the U.S. in search of a better life.
The Taings settled in Sacramento
and raised three children.
My parents fulfilled their American dream
by migrating here from Cambodia,
literally coming here with nothing,
starting their own family and at the same time
starting their own businesses.
They worked so hard to get to where they're at and
provide us with the life that we have.
Larry ran a gas station in Land Park
across the street from the Sacramento Zoo.
Sandy opened her business, a cinnamon roll shop.
Spinners was in Downtown Plaza for about 25 years.
So when the whole Golden 1 arena came to fruition,
they terminated their lease.
Sandy and Larry's reaction was calm and thoughtful.
They were truly happy to see Sacramento transform.
Eventually they decided to move the cinnamon roll shop
into Larry's gas station
But then their lives took an unexpected and dangerous turn.
Larry went to the hospital for a routine appendectomy.
After going home, he went into septic shock.
His daughter Susan rushed him to the emergency room.
His life was slipping away.
Doctors inserted a breathing tube and put him into an induced coma.
I stayed in the hospital 24 hours.
I prayed every two hours.
Doctors worked around the clock to save his life.
I think I gonna die, because when I wake up,
after 35 days, I cannot speak.
I cannot talk. I cannot walk, even one step.
Larry made a slow recovery