Mother's Memories (Part 3):

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - When we write these lines, there are only 44 Vietnamese Heroic Mothers (VNAH) still alive out of more than 4,500 mothers in Thanh Hoa. However, very few mothers are still lucid - their memories of life are partly still, partly lost. But deep in the mothers' minds are always the images of their husbands and children who have transformed themselves into the shape of the mountains and rivers, the country. We record stories, sometimes just quiet memories, patched and cherished from the stories, from the eyes and from the silence, as a tribute to the mothers and as a stick of incense for those who have forever passed away.

The house of the Vietnamese Heroic Mother Trinh Thi Vu is nestled in a small, peaceful, rustic alley in Mau Thinh village, Ba Dinh commune. The house in the historic July days always has a faint scent of incense smoke. It is understandable, because in the days when the whole country respectfully pays tribute to those who have contributed, the longing for her husband and son comes flooding back to the intermittent memory of the 103-year-old wife and mother with more than half a century of aching wishes to find and bring her son back!

Officers of the Department of Culture, Ba Dinh commune talked and encouraged VNAH mother Trinh Thi Vu.

At over a hundred years old, Vu's mother's health had obviously worn out like her life's memories. Her hearing was no longer clear, her face was sad and she spoke and laughed less, and she could no longer remember many things clearly. However, whenever she mentioned her husband and her only son who had sacrificed for the survival of her homeland and country, she remembered them very clearly. It seemed that those were all the "assets" of life that she had saved, collected, and kept for herself in a life of hardship.

Heroic Vietnamese mother Trinh Thi Vu talks about her husband and children through patchwork memories.

Looking up at the altar, there was no portrait, only two certificates of merit from the Fatherland, the mother said: “My husband was a civilian worker on the front line, he died when I had just given birth to my second son, who was about 7 months old. The pain was compounded when my second son also fell ill and passed away. But because of Hoi - my eldest son, now my only child, I suppressed my pain to work hard in the hope of raising him to be a good person.

Then, at the age of 17, Hoi secretly wrote a volunteer application to join the army. The day he left, I couldn’t bear it, but he said: “I’m joining the army to protect the Fatherland and avenge my father”... I felt like my heart was broken, I held back my pain to see him off. And from that time on, Hoi left and never came back.”

The day my son left, I couldn't bear it, but he said: 'I'm joining the army to protect the Fatherland and avenge my father'... I felt like my heart was broken, I held back the pain to see him off. And from that time on, Hoi left and never came back.

The stories Vu's mother told about her husband and son had no beginning or end... Those were fragmented memories that she remembered after her heartbreak.

Vu's mother's husband was martyr Hoang Van Hoi (1922-1952) - a frontline laborer who participated in transporting food for the Dien Bien Phu campaign, and died in the Quan Hoa district (old), Thanh Hoa province. Following in his father's footsteps, at the age of 17, his mother's only son, martyr Hoang Van Hoi (1950-1969), volunteered to go to war and heroically died on the southern front.

In 2008, in recognition of her mother's great sacrifices and losses, Trinh Thi Vu was awarded the title of Vietnamese Heroic Mother by the State.

After her son died, Vu's mother lived alone in a house stained with time, with memories that never rested. She always kept the certificate of merit from the Fatherland and the death certificate of her husband and son as the most sacred souvenirs of her life. Understanding the pain and great loss of her sister, Vu's mother's younger sister agreed to bring her young son, Hoang Van Binh (then 9 years old), to live with her uncle to have more people and more reputation.

And because of the affection, love and respect for the woman who silently sacrificed for her homeland and country, the nephew became Vu's son, loving and taking care of mother with the true sense of duty of a son.

Mr. Hoang Van Binh loves and takes care of Vu's mother with the true sense of duty of a son.

Mr. Binh shared: "I love my mother like my own mother, so I have lived with her since I was a child. My mother is a disadvantaged person, but she has never lacked my attention and care, so I am willing to spend my whole life loving and caring for her. My wife and children also respect and care for my mother like their own mother, grandmother, or great-grandmother."

For Mr. Binh, the first days of living with Vu's mother were difficult days, because in the face of great losses, she was no longer conscious, every day was drenched in tears. Mr. Binh confided: "After Mr. Hoi passed away, Vu's mother seemed to have gone crazy. During the day, she quietly went to work in the fields, but at night she just hugged the mementos of her husband and son and cried. The Lunar New Year days of many years after that, when the whole family gathered together, were the days when she was most painful and depressed. There were years when my mother hugged the mementos of her husband and son and cried, from early morning until New Year's Eve... At that time, I was still young, I could not feel all this pain, but later I understood, my mother had steadfastly overcome the pain, tried to move forward in life and devoted that affection to loving and taking care of me. So I love my mother even more, she is the motivation, the example for me and my children to follow, to devote ourselves to the Fatherland".

At that time, I was still young and could not fully feel this pain, but later I understood that my mother had steadfastly overcome the pain, tried to move forward in life, and devoted that love to loving and caring for me. So I love my mother even more, she is the motivation and example for me and my children to follow, to devote ourselves to the Fatherland.

Mr. Hoang Van Binh - the nephew who was like a son to Vu's mother

It is known that for many years after the day of peace, mother Trinh Thi Vu and her family and relatives coordinated with agencies, units, and localities to search for the grave of martyr Hoang Van Hoi but there was no information.

“For decades, every year on the anniversary of your death and the anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs Day (July 27), my mother lit incense and called out to you, missing you as if you were present in this family. And then there were many nights when my mother cried alone. In her dreams, she still asked, “Hoi, where are you? If you are sacred, please tell me in your dreams so I can take you back to your homeland, to your family and relatives,” Mr. Binh shared.

Heroic mother Trinh Thi Vu still yearns to find and bring the grave of her only son - Martyr Hoang Van Hoi back to her hometown Ba Dinh.

In these historic days of July, we learn to slow down, calm our hearts to contemplate gratitude and sacrifice. How much we appreciate the mothers who have condensed their pain into life for life and here - in the story of Vu's mother, we can see how beautiful this life is when there are people like Binh who have voluntarily replaced his father's generation - have devoted their youth to peace, becoming children with their mothers.

This is also the story we will return to in the final article of the series, in a peaceful place in the mountains. And next will be another story.

Le Hoa

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Lesson 4: Mother is a village teacher, villagers call her "Mother Thanh"

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/ky-uc-cua-me-bai-3-17-tuoi-hoi-giau-toi-viet-don-tinh-nguyen-len-duong-nhap-ngu-roi-di-mai-khong-ve-254685.htm