For her, a perfect family is not about being rich, but about loving each other, because siblings with the same parents, growing up can go in many directions, entering life with different steps, but there is always a place to return to, that is family. She wishes to have a complete meeting.

She personally called each of her siblings, telling them she wanted to throw a party to meet them all before she left for Saigon, it had been a long time since they had seen each other. There were 6 siblings in the family, living all around this city but they still didn't visit each other's houses, didn't get to see each other, let alone another city, not to mention that tiny city, where they didn't even see each other at traffic lights.

When Mom was still alive, on Dad's death anniversary or New Year's Eve, they would find an excuse for the siblings to get together and still avoid each other, some would go home first, some would go home later. Strangely enough, when sisters met, they were more distant than strangers, holding grudges against each other over every word. Mom and Dad didn't leave any inheritance, so there was nothing to divide, each of us grew up and found our own way in life, probably it was the hardship that made the loving hearts close to each other.

Sometimes, she watches the program: “As if there was never a separation”. She wants to cry. There are so many people in this life who are lost from each other, sometimes lost forever. They hope through the program to find their relatives, not to become rich but to know that they still have blood relatives. People have to spend so much effort looking for each other, sometimes for a lifetime, and when they meet, they are already very old. But here, 6 siblings with the same parents but cannot have a family meal together? It is for nothing, to see that although the path to life is extremely difficult, the young birds have grown up, and still have enough. She just needs at least a meal with 6 siblings, just to look at each other and laugh.

My father and mother got married very early, at an age when today's children are still playing around and struggling for their dreams. At the age of 22, my father married my mother. My mother got married at the age of 18, with her only life experience being knowing how to cook delicious meals according to my father's wishes and sewing clothes for her children. My mother was exactly the type of wife from the old days, submissive and patient, rarely stepping out onto the front steps of the house but knowing by heart all the swordplay movies from the time when they were rented from movie theaters.

As for my father, at that time he had become a long-distance driver, transporting goods for fruit, vegetable, flower warehouses, etc. to supply to the dealers. My father had little education but was intelligent and had a talent for business, so in no time he had built a business with 40 trucks to transport goods everywhere. My father made money very easily, but he was a light-hearted person, when surrounded by many friends who sought him out, asked for help, and borrowed money. He innocently helped his friends without calculating, without asking them to write a debt note. As for my mother, she was a gentle girl by nature, she got married before she could start her life, gave birth to six children in a row, and was completely financially dependent on my father, so she didn't know how to save money. My father took care of everyone but not the six children. My mother loved her children but didn't know how to take care of their future.

Then my father lost power, his friends turned their backs on him, and he soon became penniless. My mother opened a stall at the market and began to earn a living to take care of my father, while the children themselves threw themselves into the daily grind of making a living. When my father passed away, the house that had been the family's home for so many years had to be sold. The place to keep the family together was no longer there.

When children have to enter life with unsteady steps, having to struggle on their own, their hearts are filled with resentment towards their families. But in life, is there any family that is the same? Each person's steps into life sometimes stumble, at that time the unpredictable storms make the heart become cold. She is luckier than all her siblings to have a complete family, her husband is a capable man, knows how to seize opportunities, and creates a warm family. She has a happy family, but not all of her siblings are like that.

Hoan, the younger brother of his sister, dropped out of school halfway and learned to drive a truck. Hoan became his father's right-hand man on his journeys. Among the six siblings, his father loved him the most, but he was a son who did not know how to make a living when he had the chance, but only spent the money his father gave him lavishly. When the family fell into difficulty, Hoan repeatedly wanted to sell the house, but failed. Because in the past, his father had a beautiful dream that the house would have 6 floors, each floor would be a family of his children, but it never came true. Hoan began to resent his remaining siblings and swore not to see them. He left the house with the vow of never returning. That day, the wind seemed to blow the leaves off the trees.

Thinking back on life, there is no perfect family. And even the children that their parents gave birth to, they could never know their temperament. The remaining five sisters, each one had their own way of entering life, none of them finished university, at best they would try to find a part-time degree later, thanks to which they could escape poverty. None of them were rich, at best they would build a house and raise their children to study. She just wanted the six sisters to get together occasionally, to have fun. But sometimes on the anniversary of their father's death, or their mother's death, Hoan did not return. He did not return to burn incense for his parents because he said they did not leave a house as inheritance. But he bought fruit trees and went to the cemetery himself, to worship by himself. When she saw the fruit plate had been hastily taken away by the looters at the cemetery, leaving only the burning incense sticks and the smoke, she felt sad. Because after all, Hoan is still my younger brother, flesh and blood, and since he was little, I had to carry him, pick him up and take him to school...

All the siblings were present at the party. There was still one empty chair, which was reserved for Hoan. No one was surprised by the empty chair, because Hoan was almost absent from family gatherings. Yesterday, when I called him, his sister said that it might be a long time before they saw each other again, so she wanted him to be there too. She said: “Hoan, when we are flesh and blood, we are still flesh and blood. Remember to come with the rest of us, okay?” He said: “Yes, I will come with Big Sister.”

The party lasted for nearly an hour, and Hoan’s chair was still empty. The younger siblings talked about life and recalled their memories. Everyone was laughing and talking, and the chair was still empty. She should have told the waiter to remove the chair, because the empty chair was a reminder of an imperfect family, even though no one mentioned Hoan’s absence.

She told everyone to fill their glasses of beer and raise their glasses to this rare reunion. Just then, she heard a voice calling: “Second Sister, I’m sorry I’m late.” Hoan had arrived, he had finally arrived.

The empty chair was taken.

Khue Viet Truong