Like children skipping back to the village...

The old way back to the countryside is full of emotions. Photo: THUY BAT NHI

Those are the indescribable feelings of the "old" generation in the city, with the lingering nostalgia for things that are very old...

The "hopeful" people

Mr. Pham Xuan Quang (residing in Thanh Khe, Da Nang ) always considered himself a "hopeful" person. He left his hometown Dai Loc when he was still in school. "At that time, my family was so poor that my parents sent me to my uncle's house to go to school. There was war and war, and the village was short of rice, but both my parents only wanted their children to study. So, having my uncle let me stay and go to school was a great joy. That's why I've been in Da Nang until now."

Mr. Quang counted the time, counted the years spent in this city, "in the blink of an eye, it has been several decades". When he first came to Da Nang, the Hue intersection area was still muddy, his uncle's house was near the current Huynh Ngoc Hue street, there was no access for vehicles, and the house was surrounded by sand dunes. The entire Thanh Khe commune at that time was covered with thick bamboo clumps. Studying, then escaping the resistance war, becoming a cadre participating in the Youth Volunteer Movement to liberate Da Nang, Mr. Quang thought he would only have to look back at his "far away" homeland.

“But after retiring and arranging a job and house for my children, I still like to go back to my hometown. Several times a year, when my family has a death anniversary or a ceremony, I go back. To the village, to check on my parents’ house, to go around and meet relatives,” Mr. Quang excitedly recounted.

However, the truth is that when he returned to the village, he returned to his childhood. “I was so happy, going from the street to the house, I remembered my childhood friends, then greeting my uncle, aunt, remembering this person who gave me some sweet potatoes, that person who gave me money to buy Tet clothes... Tet came, wearing the Ao Dai, standing in the middle of the yard, looking up at the sky, missing my father and mother, breathing in the excited and elated air, it was so great, so hard to describe”.

Mr. Quang's feelings, looking out, with his peers - the generation that went through the fire of war, lived with Da Nang gradually changing into urbanization, compared with his hometown each year is different, each generation of young people grew up and also left the village, sat together, naturally shared the same feelings. In a private corner, between Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue, people can easily see silver-haired people sitting alone in the late winter afternoon, late spring, very leisurely but full of mood.

Those people, just need to recall the old Tet, old customs, childhood stories, they will "transform" into another person, laughing and talking, always telling stories...

Return to yourself

When old men of seventy years old sit together, they often start with stories from their hometown.

People from the city return to their hometowns to visit graves on the first day of the Lunar New Year in Dien Ban. Photo: Xuan Hien

There is a vast space of memories in the hearts of those old friends, so they call each other by "vulgar" names and "old man's names". Especially, the temple scene of their childhood, the village festivals of the first and second months of the deprived children of the past... The feelings of those "deceased" people, truly never fade.

Pharmacist Vo Dinh Dieu, who has lived 2/3 of his life in Da Nang, has just left the "pharmacy" for 3 years now, and admits that he has never forgotten his hometown Cau Hai ( Thua Thien Hue ).

In recent years, it can be said that he has spent more than half of the year returning to the village, taking care of one thing after another, from the family to the village. He commented that every time he returned to the village, he felt like a child, “skipping on the road”, looking at the scenery and missing his hometown, looking at the trees and missing the people…

“In fact, people like me are too old, telling stories of the past, only seeing poverty and hardship, which is not suitable for the current youth. But what needs to be constantly reminded is that through life experience, we need to help the children not forget the rules, ethics and etiquette that our ancestors have instilled over generations, passing on to the next generation a solid, deep foundation” - the old pharmacist confided. With that in mind, he determined that the occasions of returning to the village are an opportunity to recall and write in the record book the necessary customs and rituals so that the next generation does not forget their roots, does not forget the etiquette with their predecessors.

For people like Mr. Pham Xuan Quang and pharmacist Vo Dinh Dieu, returning to their hometown is not simply to bring back memories. They return to their village, or more precisely, they set foot on their village, to return to their true selves!

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/nhu-tre-tho-chan-sao-ve-lang-3150152.html