(QBĐT) - I still remember, in a talk show on television, Professor Nguyen Lan Dung when discussing his "ideal" criteria for old age said: "Live well, die quickly, have little savings, be known by many people". In this article, I only want to talk about the old people in my hometown who "live well". Of course, because they are farmers "working with their necks plowing and their hands working with buffaloes", they don't have "savings" and "be known by many people".
Live with love and forgiveness
That was the answer of Mr. Nguyen Them (born in 1929) in Dinh Chua residential group, Quang Thuan ward (Ba Don town), when I asked about the secret to living long and healthy. At the age of 95, Mr. Nguyen Them still lives happily with his 95-year-old wife and a "Four generations under one roof".
Mr. Them is currently a member of the Tho Ngoa Village Poetry Club and the Gianh River Poetry Club. Every month, he still regularly participates in the activities of the two clubs. He has a special memory. During the war, his right hand was amputated by an American bomb, making it difficult for him to hold a pen with his left hand when he was old, so he writes poems by… memorizing them in his head. When needed, he reads one poem after another for his children and grandchildren or fellow poets to record.
During the 22nd Vietnam Poetry Day in the spring of Giap Thin 2024, organized by the Quang Trach Literature and Arts Association - Ba Don Town and the People's Committee of Ba Don Ward at Phan Long Temple, despite the limited time, I still arranged for him to "perform" poetry. When the MC introduced him, seeing him confidently step onto the stage, many people in the audience did not believe that he was 95 years old.
Even more surprising, when many young people were reading poetry and had to hold papers, he held a microphone in one hand and performed a 20-line poem in the “song that luc bat” (song that luc bat) form very eloquently. I heard whispers, probably the age on the citizen identification card… So I took the microphone and said, we are introducing the official age, but on the identification card it says he was born in… 1927!
Mr. Them is a living document of my hometown. Although he only finished primary school during the French colonial period, thanks to his intelligence, love of reading, observation and special memory, he is very knowledgeable about history, geography and ancient and modern stories. My articles about the old villages all refer to his opinion. In the article “Anecdotes of Con Ket” published in Quang Binh Newspaper, his father was the village chief who took back Con Ket from the French spy.
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He said: “Since I was little, my father taught me about love and forgiveness, even for pets in the house. One day, a thief broke into the garden and was caught by me. I grabbed his hair and was about to slap him, when my father came out. He held the thief’s hand and asked, “Have you been beaten yet?” The thief shook his head. My father smiled, let the thief go home, and gave me all the broken corn. He turned to me and said, “They were hungry so they did that reluctant thing, they also had black hair and red blood, my child, so I should forgive them… Maybe that’s why I always live with love and forgiveness, so I live long and healthy like this!”
90-year-old woman practices martial arts, old man writes love poems
In Quang Thuan ward, there are many women named Thi, but if anyone asks about the house of Mrs. “Thi Vo”, people will point to a house with a winding path, located deep in Me Hoi TDP. Mrs. Tran Thi Thi learned martial arts from her father when she was young. Many people still say that when she was young, she followed her father to compete all over the region and often had no teenage opponents. Whenever Tho Ngoa village had a festival, she was invited to perform very skillful martial arts.
Mrs. Thi's circumstances were very difficult, her husband died early, she raised her young children alone, but she did not let poverty ruin her family's martial arts. Every night, she often went to the Gianh River to practice, so this year, at the age of 87, she still performs the martial arts like "o con gai". On the 5th day of the Lunar New Year 2024, the Tho Ngoa village poetry club came to visit, she performed the martial arts "Hoa mai" and "Song kiem" to the surprise and applause, causing Mr. Nguyen Them to ask to take a photo as a souvenir.
Speaking of martial arts, there is Mr. Thi, but speaking of literature, we must mention Mr. Tran Duy Nghiem (89 years old) in Dinh Chua Hamlet. Mr. Nghiem is the co-founder of the Tho Ngoa Village Poetry Club 31 years ago. His poems have been published a lot in Nhat Le Magazine and many other newspapers. I really enjoy his "love poems". The ideas, images, and language in Mr. Tran Duy Nghiem's love poems are very youthful and subtle. If you don't see the person and just read the poems, the reader might think of a young poet: " Calling the moon through the window/Letting your shadow fall long/I'm always surprised/Teasing you, you keep hiding..." (Calling the moon), and: "There is a hasty kiss/The moon falls by the lake/There is a sudden kiss/Falls on the half-waning moon/There is an unfinished kiss/The moon lingers until now..." (Vuong).
Mr. Nghiem also has a special memory, his eyesight is poor and he can't write straight, so he also writes poems by memory, he can recite hundreds of poems he has written without making a single mistake. For more than 20 years, the old lady is now 86 years old, has had a stroke and her limbs are weak, but the two of them still support each other to live happily because their children live far away. The old lady reads poems given by friends to him. The old lady writes poems, the old lady recites them by heart. The old lady Nguyen Thi Cam humorously said: "Choa lives well thanks to Mr. Nghiem's love poems!"
Optimistic and humorous old men and women
There are many couples in my hometown who are over 90, but I would like to mention here those who live healthy lives thanks to optimism and humor. Although Mr. Tran Tho passed away two years ago at the age of 103, we should still mention his sense of humor. It seems that for Mr. Tho, not saying “trang” is something he cannot bear, sitting with him is all there is to laugh. He did not say it, but I guess that is the secret to longevity.
Also in Me Hoi TDP with Mr. Thi, there is Mr. Lo who is 101 years old this year. When he was 90 years old, his children and grandchildren wanted to organize a birthday celebration, but he optimistically stopped them: "Why live at ninety, let's celebrate when we're a hundred." Last year he was 100 years old, his children and grandchildren wanted to organize a birthday celebration, but he stopped them again. When they reminded him of what he said ten years ago, he had to give up.
I wrote an article titled “Happiness is still being able to work” published in Quang Binh Newspaper two years ago. The article is about the couple Nguyen Chau and Truong Thi Thi. After two years, the 91-year-old man and the 89-year-old woman are still healthy and working hard. In early spring, I visited them in the spacious house that my youngest son had just built. I saw them watching music on TV, singing along to “ The Party has given us a spring full of aspirations” and dreaming of their future.
It is impossible to tell all the stories of healthy elderly people in my hometown. For example, in Dinh Chua residential area, there is also Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hop (born in 1929) who still tells jokes; Mr. Nguyen The Sy (born in 1938) who still jogs in the morning like a young man and many others.
I noticed that the common point of the elders is that they are farmers, hard-working, eating mostly homemade, clean and simple products. The important thing about them is that they live optimistically, love life, are altruistic and kind. I believe that they are shining examples for future generations to follow.
Do Thanh Dong
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