My father – a thin, frail man, but with kind and benevolent eyes. Because of his poor health, he couldn't work alongside my mother, toiling day and night as a laborer on the sun-drenched rubber plantation. Instead, he stayed home to care for my four sisters and me, taking over my mother's chores. From early morning, when my mother and her bicycle disappeared down the long, desolate red dirt road, my father would rush into the kitchen to cook, then clean up, tend to the chickens, and cultivate the vegetable beds and sugarcane fields.
Back then, my older siblings were at school, so I, the youngest daughter, was always running around my father's feet. Therefore, to me, my father was also a close friend who brought me much joy and laughter. I will never forget those afternoons in our three-room wooden house, when my father would chop bananas while telling me fairy tales he knew by heart. I think that if it weren't for the war and poverty, my father would have been a very good student. From Nguyen Du's *Truyen Kieu* and Nguyen Dinh Chieu's *Luc Van Tien* to the Four Great Classical Novels of China… he knew them all by heart and recited them in his warm, passionate voice. My literary talent was also nurtured by my father through those sweet, affectionate sounds.
My father loved listening to the radio. I don't know when that habit started, but I know that my childhood years were filled with the Bình Phước radio theme song: "Where are you going, from Quy Nhơn to Biên Hòa, crossing the mighty Bé River to Phước Long to build victory?" The radio echoed through our wooden house from morning till night, from morning exercise programs and midday news to late-night storytelling. Whenever the radio started playing, my father would quietly sit and listen, his gaze distant, his face pensive, sometimes humming along to poems, then nodding and smiling. As a child, I didn't fully understand what he was listening to, but I always felt peaceful sitting beside him, surrounded by the warm sound of the small radio. Even though technology has changed now, even though I hold a smartphone in my hand, deep down, I still remember and cherish those old, simple sounds from the radio of yesteryear. Because it's connected to my father and my childhood like a warm sky.
My father loved his family so much, cared for his children so much, but when he fell ill, we couldn't do anything for him. I could only stand and watch, helpless and heartbroken, as the protective embrace of my life vanished like smoke. My father may never have said "I love you," but he always saved the best for me. He was always the first to run to help me up when I stumbled, smiling gently, stroking my head, and saying, "It's alright, Dad's here."
Years have passed, and every time I visit home, looking at the wooden cupboard where my father used to keep my packets of coconut candy and sticky rice candy, my heart aches with longing for him. Back then, every time school ended, I would eagerly run home because I knew my father was waiting, always with a few small candies in his hand – a reward for his good daughter. Even on tired days, he would still rummage through his pocket and offer me a sweet candy with a gentle smile. I will never forget the taste of those candies...
My father has passed away, but to me, no matter how many years pass, he will always be a silent hero, the first teacher who taught me how to love, how to sacrifice, and how to live a decent life. He will always be an irreplaceable memory, a voice full of love that I will carry with me throughout my life.
Hello, dear viewers! Season 4, themed "Father," officially launches on December 27, 2024, across four media platforms and digital infrastructures of Binh Phuoc Radio and Television and Newspaper (BPTV), promising to bring to the public the wonderful values of sacred and beautiful fatherly love. |
Source: https://baobinhphuoc.com.vn/news/19/173876/nhung-thanh-am-yeu-thuong
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