Bring home

That place is a faraway land, half a world away from Hue . But perhaps the geographical distance is no longer there when touching the familiar green images of the homeland.

“Here, the houses all have large gardens. People often plant grass and lots of roses,” you shared.

But that cool and sweet green space probably cannot fill the homesickness of those who live far away from home. So you have taken the trouble to “bring” the familiar garden of your hometown.

Busy with work and taking care of the kids, it has been a long time since I last visited Hue, so I miss it a lot. I miss my mother's muddy hands. I miss the garden every morning when I wake up, smelling the faint fragrance of guava and jackfruit. Immersed in the mist with the strong taste of the soil. I miss the bowl of "shrimp beard soup cooked with squash" that has become a childhood lesson... You whisper, in each text message over the phone, when confiding about the vegetable garden that bears the image of the homeland.

Your little sentiment reminds me of my childhood fruit fields.

There, January begins with rows of young mustard greens growing rapidly. The tiny squash seedlings that my mother has just planted, in a flash, sprout with plump leaves as big as elephant ears. Flower buds that have just bloomed somewhere, in a moment, bear fruit, in a moment, grow so big that they touch the ground. There, May burns yellow on the sunburned skin of pumpkins, each fruit as big as a small basket. Then autumn comes with a chill, tinging the mustard greens with a vague, hazy yellow color that has passed their girlhood.

Then we all grew up together with the squash and gourd. There, the years were counted by the fruit seasons, by the drops of sweat, by the hunched shoulders of our mother, while the squash and gourd grew up…

That part of the homeland, has the hardships in the shape of storms and also the youthful dreams left behind through the flower seasons. That is the homeland, written in the shape of children, hidden in memories, to remember when far away, to remember to grow up to become a person….

Source: https://baothuathienhue.vn/doi-song/dem-theo-que-nha-130915.html