Memoir "My Father".

Writer Thuy Dung's father is Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hiep, born in 1940, from Phung Hiep, Hau Giang. At the beginning of the memoir, she recounts the origin of her homeland with interesting pages titled "A corner of the Southwest", recreating the context, history, and culture of the old Phung Hiep region, through Mr. Hiep's memories. These are places like Bao Ngan Bay Quan, Lung Ngoc Hoang... a time when "even the birds were afraid of their calls, and even the fish were afraid of their movements".

Growing up, Mr. Hiep was so impressed with the neat and orderly military formations of the Young Cadets that he joined them. He was sent to study at the Young Cadets School, and in early 1952, he was selected to work as a liaison for the Can Tho Provincial Farmers' Agency located at Ong Deo Canal, Thoi Lai Commune, O Mon District, Can Tho Province. At that time, Mr. Hiep was only 12 years old. After the Geneva Agreement was signed, at the end of July 1954, Mr. Hiep was ordered to move to Bac Lieu, to Cai Nuoc to gather in the North. "The weather was cold, Hiep folded his arms to keep warm and looked around. Everyone got off the train cautiously. The soldiers, the teenagers, and even children from the far South were already in the North. The sound of the frog drums echoed, and a whole forest of people in brown shirts, holding hats, stood waiting, smiling friendly," Mr. Hiep recalled. During his school days in the North, Mr. Hiep clearly remembers the memories with his friends, the times playing soccer, wrestling... and the revolutionary ideal of returning to the beloved South, contributing to building his homeland when the country was at peace.

In 1963, after graduating, Mr. Hiep returned to work at the Tractor Station in Hai Phong, saying goodbye to Van Dien Mechanical College. During his time in Hai Phong, Mr. Hiep worked in many different units, and it was also here that he met and fell in love with Ms. Thuy Du, from Ha Nam, who was an outstanding young party member. They got married in 1971, at that time, Mr. Hiep wrote some meaningful verses: "Happiness of the country, happiness of the family/ Loyal love is sublimated/ Happiness goes with the country/ A hundred years of waiting for us". Recalling April 30, 1975, Mr. Hiep said that his heart was fluttering, excited, and boundless joy kept surging. In that stream of emotions: "Hiep missed home, missed his parents, and his siblings. It had been 21 years since Hiep had seen his relatives. Hiep had been waiting for this day for a long time, and now it had come, not in a dream but in reality. Hiep burst into tears in the middle of the night."

On June 26, 1975, Mr. Hiep returned home for the first time, setting foot on the peaceful, unified homeland, his heart was filled with emotion. In 1976, Mr. Hiep brought his wife and children to Can Tho, settled down and started a business.

85 years old, 71 years after the regrouping, with 22 years in the North, 49 years living in Can Tho, those numbers clearly outline Mr. Hiep's life journey, through the pen of his daughter, writer Thuy Dung. Last year, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the regrouping to the North, writer Thuy Dung took Mr. Hiep to visit old friends, attend the ceremony in Song Doc, Ca Mau and collect materials to write this memoir. In each sentence, readers feel the affection of a child for the life of his parents, of a generation of fathers and grandfathers who studied under the Socialist roof in the beloved North.

Article and photos: DUY KHOI

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/ba-cua-toi-cau-chuyen-cua-mot-hoc-sinh-mien-nam-tap-ket-ra-bac-a186028.html