My father-in-law is an army colonel, participating in the Ho Chi Minh campaign to liberate the South. The country was unified, and he returned to Hanoi to reunite with his family.
My husband often said that in the years after 1975, every Sunday morning, as soon as he woke up, he could smell the fragrant scent of filter coffee mixed with the smoke of silver-packaged Dien Bien cigarettes.
He liked to drink coffee, so she searched for places with "Coffee Roasting" signs. At that time, it was quite rare. She only dared to buy 1 ounce at a time, and only drank it on Sunday mornings. The aluminum filter is ugly and distorted, it doesn't matter. Scoop 2 small spoons of roasted ground coffee powder and pour in the water that has just boiled on the stove. Each movement must be very skillful, very precise, not spilling, it is also an elegant pleasure on weekend mornings.
During the subsidy period, there was a shortage of everything, but the fragrant smell of filter coffee was so luxurious. It engraved deeply into the family's memories a warm, happy, peaceful family scene, after years of fierce war and the absence of a father. Sunday will be the main day for "increasing production", the whole family gathers to weave wool, glue envelopes, peel peanuts, in an area of nearly twenty square meters fragrant with the smell of coffee...
When I gave birth to my first child, my grandfather was willing to quit smoking so as not to affect his grandchild, but still maintained his habit of drinking coffee. As an old man, he likes instant coffee. He likes any brand, but his favorite is VinaCafe's milk coffee. Every morning, he took a packet and mixed it with boiling water, enjoyed it, and sipped it with a few newspapers.
He just went away. My mind is still full of good memories of him. I remember when he woke up early to prepare herbal medicine for me to take to work. Remember, he took the motorbike from me and helped guide it up the slope to the house so it wouldn't be too heavy. I remember his hand on my forehead using qigong to cure my headache. And most remember the image of him every morning at the round table stirring a cup of coffee, very peaceful and serene.
(Entries for the contest "Impressions of Vietnamese coffee - tea" under the program "Honoring Vietnamese coffee - tea" for the second time, 2 by Newspaper Workers organization).
Graphics: CHI PHAN
