At noon on the 30th, I made offerings to welcome my grandparents back to celebrate Tet with their children and grandchildren, then made offerings to see them off on the 4th day of Tet. I was filled with nostalgia for the old Tet holidays.

I remember when my father was still alive, on the 4th day of the Lunar New Year, he always told my mother to prepare a table with cakes, incense, and flowers to worship the well. After worshiping the ancestors in the big house, my father prayed at the well. When the incense was almost burned out, my father scooped a few buckets of water to water the plants at the beginning of the year, with the hope of giving them strength to grow flowers and fruits.

Near the center of Phan Thiet city, our family’s well has been with us for over seventy years. The well is only about four meters deep and has a year-round water source. Our house is near the sea, so the well water is always full, but it is not sweet. The water is still very clear, but it is only used for daily activities. For drinking, our family members in the distant past had to use other water sources.

In my memories that have faded over time, I still remember many of our family’s previous activities closely connected to that well. My parents worked in the fish sauce processing, ground fish sauce, dried fish… there were so many stages that needed the water from the well. I imagined in my mind, if there was no well, my parents would have spent so much money to have a clean water source, helping their family’s professional activities for decades.

Once, our shack caught fire. Thanks to the water from our well and the rainwater tank, and the timely help of our neighbors, the shack where my parents stored the salt and fish sauce barrels was able to survive for many years.

Following the tradition of my extended family, I keep the custom of offering alms and seeing off my ancestors on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. Remembering the old custom of offering alms, my husband and I prepared a table with incense, flowers, cakes and fruits to offer at the well. By keeping the custom of offering alms at the beginning of the new year, my family preserves some of the traditions our ancestors left behind.

I cherish our family’s old well as my parents cherished our family’s source of water decades ago. Nowadays, with the pace of construction and expansion of new roads, urban areas, and residential areas, perhaps only a few families still have old dug wells in the inner city of Phan Thiet.

Our family kept the old well, although its use has changed a lot compared to the past. Keeping the tradition of worshiping the well at the beginning of the year, I remember my parents when they were still alive. My parents used to cherish the source of life for our large family. And now, I always remember that, cherishing the water source as I cherish the source that still silently flows in our family's life these days.