Parenthood

I used to live in a small town in Vietnam, and we didn't have a high school there. We had to go across the river and spend 30 minutes on a boat, or we had to ride our bicycles for one hour or two depending on which school we went to. Because of that, we had to live far from home.  That made school expensive because we had to pay for rent, food and the school fee. 

My dad was a fisherman, and my mom was self-employed but she was sick very often. When I finished grade 9, my grandmother told my parents that I had to stay home because there was no way they could afford for me to go to high school. My mom tried to explain to me that my older sister was in grade 11 and she had only one more year to finish high school.  Besides, my younger brother and my younger sister were still in primary school, and my parents didn't have enough money for all of us to go to school. My dad didn't say anything, but I knew he didn't agree with my grandmother. I also knew that he couldn't do anything about it because it was already expensive just for my older sister to go to high school.

I don't remember seeing my dad smoke, but my mom bought a lot cigarettes for him. He smoked when he was fishing in the ocean. Also, once a month, my dad got to drink alcohol with other fishermen when they got paid. 

I didn't say anything, but I went to take the test at Quoc Hoc Hue.  It is a very good high school for gifted kids, and I was one of only two kids in my hometown that were accepted. I thought that was one of the reasons why my dad stood up for me. I remember he told my grandmother, "Don't talk with my kids about it. I'm not going to stop them from going to school unless they don't like it."

My Dad decided to quit smoking, and he stopped drinking alcohol once per month.  That way he saved enough money for me to go to school. The only thing he still liked to drink was lemon juice with a lot of sugar. I knew he worked a lot harder during the time I went to school, and that made my grandmother quite worried.

Years later, I finished university, and all of my brothers and sisters finished college. It was amazing that my parents could help us all to finish school.  People joked that my dad must have found some buried treasure to make ends meet. 

I finished school 10 years ago, and I have been living in Canada for 7 years. Last year, when I went home to visit my family for the first time, my dad’s cousin asked me, "Is it true what people say that your dad found treasure?"   I answered, “Yes, of course!” and we laughed.  

These days, I have been thinking about going home again, but I have had too many things to worry about here in Canada.  However, after writing this story and remembering what my parents did for me, I have decided to go and see them as soon as possible and thank them.