For 50 years, my mom only had fragments of her past, but returning to her childhood home of Hue brought back the full picture. Yesterday's journey through history proved to be quite emotional for my mother, but today she reached the pinnacle. For the first time this trip, I witnessed my mother break down. She didn't cry, but I could clearly feel the heaviness in her heart as she stiffly stood in front of her parent's tombstone. My mom was orphaned at a very young age and was sent to live with an abusive aunt. She has very few memories of her mom and dad, but the ones that she did recollect reappeared as she prayed for them at their grave. My mom explained to me that this grave site was special in that it wasn't just her parents, but all of our ancestors. Apparently, my family had our own cemetary plot in Hue, but the Viet Cong took that land away. They forced my family to remove the remains from there. My family dug up my mom's great parents, grand parents, and parents' remains and transported them to this new site, Thien Thai Mountain, where they now can rest in eternal peace. There is a sense of ease for my mom now. She was finally able to pay respect to the parents, grandparents, and great grand parents whom she never knew.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Thien Thai Mountain
For 50 years, my mom only had fragments of her past, but returning to her childhood home of Hue brought back the full picture. Yesterday's journey through history proved to be quite emotional for my mother, but today she reached the pinnacle. For the first time this trip, I witnessed my mother break down. She didn't cry, but I could clearly feel the heaviness in her heart as she stiffly stood in front of her parent's tombstone. My mom was orphaned at a very young age and was sent to live with an abusive aunt. She has very few memories of her mom and dad, but the ones that she did recollect reappeared as she prayed for them at their grave. My mom explained to me that this grave site was special in that it wasn't just her parents, but all of our ancestors. Apparently, my family had our own cemetary plot in Hue, but the Viet Cong took that land away. They forced my family to remove the remains from there. My family dug up my mom's great parents, grand parents, and parents' remains and transported them to this new site, Thien Thai Mountain, where they now can rest in eternal peace. There is a sense of ease for my mom now. She was finally able to pay respect to the parents, grandparents, and great grand parents whom she never knew.
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2 comments:
This picure is missing one more person- Di Ba. It would have been so nice to see all three stand and pray for their parents and ancestors. Nontheless, this is a great picture!
On another note, I've always thought mom was short but looks like Di Minh is shorter. Here I am complaining about my height!
Tony, I am so moved to tears. My heart is so full. Full because of the similarities to memories of my ancestors grave sites in New Orleans. Full because of so many similarities period. Which is proof of our connectedness as brothers and sisters of the human race. There is a real healing happening for all who have followed you on your journey to Viet Nam.
Profound Peace
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