The old days

My parents' old house was on Nguyen Trai Street, about a few dozen steps from Xom Moi Market. The street started from Phuoc Hai Street and ended at To Hien Thanh Street. Nguyen Trai Street was probably only about a kilometer long but had many parallel cross streets. From top to bottom were Mac Dinh Chi Street, Nguyen Tuong Tam Street, Nguyen Hoang Street, Tran Nguyen Han Street, Ngo Duc Ke Street, Ngo Thoi Nhiem Street, and then ended at a three-way intersection with To Hien Thanh Street. Phuoc Hai Street ran across the foot of Nha Trang Cathedral and is now Nguyen Trai Street, and the old street where my parents' house was located has been renamed Vo Tru Street. Nguyen Hoang Street is now Ngo Gia Tu Street, and Nguyen Tuong Tam Street is Tran Binh Trong Street. The streets were like straight lines, so when I remember, I imagine my old neighborhood with a chessboard and everything becomes very familiar.

My family moved to Xom Moi in the early years when this area was newly formed. My mother told me that at that time there were no clear roads, there was only sand and thorny cactus bushes everywhere. When I started to be conscious, I saw the Xom Moi market located in the middle of several crossroads, in the middle of the market was a house surrounded by simple wooden stalls. My parents' house seemed to be the busiest area here, each house had a fairly large area, with a front and back yard so the houses did not share walls like they do now. When I was a child, my family's house was a 3-room house, roofed with tiles, located in a very large yard, in front of the house there was a trellis of squash or luffa. My father was the main laborer in the house, while my mother stayed home to help my grandmother with her small business and take care of a bunch of children. Thinking back to my old house, I often remember the family activities of that day, every morning my grandfather often took a few small grandchildren to the beach. The beach was still there, but the beach back then wasn’t as crowded as it is now. There were no people exercising, and probably no one watching the sun and taking pictures of the sunrise. Sometimes my grandfather would find a nest of sea turtle eggs in the sand. The white eggs were as small as ping pong balls but had soft shells that the mother turtle had laid on the beach and buried in the sand the night before. Back then, no one knew about protecting rare animals, so everyone happily shared them and brought them home…

Some stalls at Xom Moi market.

Not all memories make people happy when they recall them, but there are memories that are like a cool stream of water that soothes the heart from withering away with time. Next to my parents' old house was the house of Mr. Ba, a friend who invited my grandfather to play chess every afternoon. The two old men played chess while drinking tea. I don't remember what they talked about, but I remember that they never argued, they just laughed happily. Behind Mr. Ba's house was a very large sandy area, where I occasionally saw a few lizards running around and always quickly burying themselves in the sand. But every now and then I heard my grandfather go to Mr. Ba's house to eat grilled meatballs made from lizard meat. Just hearing about it scared me so I never touched the can of milk with a drum made from lizard skin that he brought back for my younger brother.

When I was fifteen, my grandfather passed away, the old neighborhood also changed a bit, every time there was a death anniversary, the children and grandchildren in the house would remember him. When my grandfather was still alive, every time there was a death anniversary, all the preparations started 2-3 days in advance, the whole family was busy making banh it la gai, banh hat sen and a tray of sticky rice and sweet soup was indispensable. My grandmother and mother ground the flour and wrapped the cakes themselves and I could help with the work because I was the oldest grandchild in the house. After the offering, the party was usually attended by all the neighbors, those who had been neighbors with my family since the beginning and became very close. These death anniversaries gradually became much simpler and later when the children and grandchildren grew up, some lived far away from home, so the death anniversary was not for everyone to gather but only an occasion to remember, so it was not as elaborate as before.

Nowadays, the old neighborhood has changed a lot, the old people have passed away or their families have moved to other places. The area of ​​the houses has become smaller because they have been divided among their children or sold during difficult times. When I have the chance to visit, I sometimes feel strange with many things. Now there are no more fences made of barbed wire or of hibiscus bushes trimmed between houses. Occasionally, I visit my sisters who are both relatives and neighbors. Our stories always have a part that reminds us of our childhood days. A story that no one has mentioned for a long time is that in the past, the older sisters used to carry their younger siblings so that their mother could do housework every evening. When the younger siblings were happy, the older sisters could invite each other to play marbles, jump rope or hopscotch, when the younger ones were crying loudly, the older sisters would carry their younger siblings somewhere to comfort them. The places where I often coaxed my baby were two gold shops at two corners of Xom Moi market, one shop was called Kim Khanh, the other one I can't remember because it was a long time ago. Even though it was a long time ago, I still clearly remember holding my baby and showing him the small rotating table in the glass cabinet brightly lit with a huge gold ring on it, studded with sparkling pearls, and he stopped crying.

The corner of Vo Tru and Tran Nguyen Han streets. Photo: GC

Xom Moi has long been a bustling market area, with two bakeries, one called Thien Phuoc, on the side of the market on Vo Tru Street and another, more modern bakery at the corner of Huynh Thuc Khang Street whose name I don’t remember. Everywhere around the Xom Moi market is filled with memories, so when mentioned, it becomes an endless story. On this street is Dan Khang pharmacy, the largest traditional medicine pharmacy in the area that everyone who grew up in Xom Moi knows. Whenever someone in the family had a cold, my mother would send me to Dan Khang to buy medicine. Dan Khang traditional medicine pharmacy is still in the same place, just renamed Dan Toc pharmacy.

Of course, everything has changed over time, but the memories of the old neighborhood have not completely disappeared. Near the Xom Moi market, there is still a Nam Quan signboard, a stationery store that has been around since I was in elementary school. On that street corner, there are signs that have become brands such as Pho Ngoc Son, Tuyet Nga bookstore... now only a small part of many people's memories.

We think that the passing years make people forget, but in fact, the old things are still intact behind the dust of time, just need to gently brush them away and we will remember everything. Remembering and cherishing the memories we have, whether happy or sad, are a part of our lives. Therefore, when remembering old stories, everyone feels warm in their hearts.

LUU CAM VAN

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/nhung-vung-ky-uc/202409/nhung-ngay-xua-cu-36b4216/