What Dad Wishes For

Curiously, I picked it up to look, but the envelope didn't say who it was for. I opened it, and inside was a light yellow card with neat handwriting, unclear whether it was a man or a woman: "December 2025, Mom, I miss you, I miss the corner of our house, I miss the tamarind tree, I miss the earthenware jar full of cool rainwater...".

Someone dropped the love letter. Reading the last line, my eyes suddenly filled with tears. I also missed my father, the house by the river when I was little, my childhood filled with joy.

December is a bit chilly, every child feels homesick, missing their father and mother. A excitement. A tearfulness. An indescribable longing.

My father was a simple man. I pictured him more clearly, like every other child, only after he was no longer with me. He lived and loved his family with all his heart. All his life, every day, every hour, he always carried that love with him as a mission.

Now, Tet is coming. It's been the second year since I lost my father. The second year I haven't felt the warmth of my father. But I'm not sad. I think what my father wants to see in me and my brothers, what he wants to see in my mother...

Not a day of sitting with knees drawn up, sobbing and missing each other on the last days of December. I know my father wants to see us smile. He wants to see new buds sprouting on the fragile and strong apricot branches.

Father wants to see the cool, yellow sunlight of Tet resting on the porch. Father wants to see a prosperous, peaceful home, even though he is no longer present.

So, a few days ago when I heard someone say that in a few years there will be no Tet holiday... I felt sad and regretful. But I suddenly realized that sadness and regret is an emotion that I carry among the countless emotions that I could choose. So I chose happiness.

I chose to have a full Tet. I think my father wanted to see that more than anything. I stood up and looked for my notebook. I ticked the third line, "buy two pairs of marigolds to display for Tet." My father's favorite flower is marigolds.

Once upon a time, when my mother asked Aunt Ba Be to make me Tet pajamas, when I was a little girl and my mother loved to wear her hair in two buns like Na Tra, back then, our old house was located in the countryside, far away from the town. My house was a stilt house, next to the river.

What I like best is lying in the backyard, reading a book, and smelling the water, the rain, and the rice fields blown in by the wind.

My father was a farmer, a net-setter, a tire-repairer... doing all kinds of jobs to earn a living to raise the children. My mother sold coffee and was a housewife. The three of us grew up in the peacefulness of the rice fields and rivers, in a way that cinema is "echoed in the heart", forever remembered.

I remember a week before Tet, my mother would buy red patterned wallpaper, mix flour into a paste, and paste the floral wallpaper onto the wooden wall. She would hang decorative balls skillfully cut from red, yellow, and green glittering ribbons on the ceiling.

The ball could rotate, with four long tassels hanging from the four corners. When the mosquito net was finished, my mother would take it down, store it carefully in a bag, and hang it up again the following year to decorate it in the same way. I loved that ribbon ball.

Every time I lean my hand on the ground, munching on watermelon seeds, eating pumpkin jam, and look up, seeing the spinning ball, my childish mind is filled with endless, shapeless thoughts. The ball in my childhood memories.

As for my father, every Tet season he would buy a small pot of mai to put on the table and a pair of marigolds. He loved bonsai mai, and he loved sitting and drinking tea and admiring the mai. I used to think of buying a piece of land and planting mai all over the yard for him to admire, but I never did. Now my father is no more.

Sometimes, I have the feeling that in the Tet of countless seasons to come, my father will still sit on the stone bench in front of the house, slowly drinking tea and admiring his Tet apricot tree with all the contemplation, peace and relaxation. He will still be our loving father forever.

I have experienced them all, the happiest, most peaceful, most joyful Tet seasons. And I have also experienced the Tet seasons when we missed our father endlessly. But I want to tell myself, my family, my beloved mother...

I hope that my whole family will always be healthy and safe. I know my mother will be sad when she sees the apricot tree in the middle of December still with its leaves intact, unpicked... But everything will be okay. Everything will pass. We are still here. Tet is life.

Because life is longer than loss. Because love is longer than pain. Tet gives us an opportunity to look back on each year with gratitude and inspiration. We will fill our hearts with all the brightest hope.

Up above, when I look at my family, I will see a home filled with love. I will smile.

Invite readers to participate in the writing contest.

Spring Warmth

As a spiritual food for every Tet holiday, Tuoi Tre newspaper and its partner INSEE Cement Company continue to invite readers to participate in the Spring Warm Home writing contest to share and introduce your home - your warm home, its features and the memories that you will never forget.

The house where your grandparents, parents and you were born and raised; the house you built yourself; the house where you celebrated your first Tet with your family... can all be submitted to the contest to introduce to readers nationwide.

The article "Spring Warm Home" must not have participated in any writing contest, and must not have been published in any media or social networks. The author is responsible for copyright, the organizer has the right to edit, and the article will receive royalties when selected for publication in Tuoi Tre publications.

The contest takes place from December 1, 2025 to January 15, 2026, inviting all Vietnamese people regardless of age or profession to participate.

Articles on Spring Warmth in Vietnamese should be a maximum of 1,000 words, and should be accompanied by illustrative photos and videos (illustrative photos and videos taken from social networks without copyright are not accepted). Only accept articles via email, not via post to avoid loss.

Contest entries should be sent to email address maiamngayxuan@tuoitre.com.vn.

Authors must provide their address, phone number, email, account number, and citizen identification number so that the organizing committee can contact them and send them royalties or prizes.

Tuoi Tre newspaper staff and their families can participate in the Spring Warmth Writing Contest but will not be considered for prizes. The decision of the organizing committee is final.

Mái nhà của ngoại trong mùa gió nắng - Ảnh 1.

Spring Warmth Awards Ceremony and Launch of Tuoi Tre Xuan Magazine

The jury, including famous journalists, cultural figures and representatives of Tuoi Tre newspaper, will review and award the preliminary entries and select the winners.

The award ceremony and launch of the Tuoi Tre Xuan magazine are expected to be held at Nguyen Van Binh Book Street, Ho Chi Minh City at the end of January 2026.

Invite readers to participate in the writing contest.

Spring Warmth

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