Vietnamese adopted daughter talks about her days with Stephen Hawking

Tear off the wall calendarOn March 14, 2018, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Nhan arranged the souvenir photos with Mr. Stephen Hawking that she had carefully kept for the past 20 years. "To always remember the day my father passed away," she said. Although on paper, she was his godson, he always called her his adopted daughter.

That morning, standing in the kitchen, she was stunned when a reporter told her about the incident that happened more than 9,000 km away. Her second father passed away at the age of 76 in the early morning of March 14 in Cambridge, England. Mr. Hawking was born on the same day as the death of Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo (January 8) and died on the same day as the birth of German physics genius Albert Einstein, which is also the anniversary of Pi (March 14).

To Ms. Nhan, he is not only a world-famous physicist and astronomer, but also a strict but also very loving father. On her personal social media account for many years, she still has a photo of the two of them together, so that whenever she opens her phone, she can see her father."The more I look forward to seeing him one last time, the more I cannot do it because of financial constraints," said Ms. Nhan.two days after his death.

1989,Nhan's biological parents died on the same day in a boat accident, leaving her orphaned at a young age. A year later, her four siblings were sent to the SOS Children's Village in Hanoi.Every child in the village hasfather,godmother, and when Stephen Hawking expressed his desire to adopt a Vietnamese godchild,Miss Nhan was randomly chosen. To her, being his daughter was "the most wonderful coincidence".

After exchanging letters with Ms. Nhan through the SOS village manager, during a business trip to Japan, Mr. Hawking secretly came to Vietnam with his wife Elaine Mason at the end of 1997 and met Ms. Nhan for the first time at the children's village.At that time,Mr. Hawking performed for the village kindergarten children by pressing the buttons on his wheelchair, spinning it around, making the children clap with delight.

Before that, only looking at the picture, Ms. Nhan, then about 16 years old, was surprised to see how good her father was even though his limbs could barely move. Feeling admiration for her father's extraordinary willpower, she hugged him, holding his head up to show her affection. He spoke to her with a fake voice coming from the computer and through an interpreter. Sometimes he raised his eyebrows, using his eyes to communicate.

During the visit, he and his wife took her to visit Hoan Kiem Lake and bought an English dictionary. He chose the fabric and design for her first ao dai at a famous shop in Hanoi. She gave her godparents a handmade decoration made from ribbons.

Three short days passed, the farewell at the SOS village was filled with tears, when both father and son cried, held hands, and clung to each other. The scene also moved the foster mother, the assistant and many people around.

Two years later, because Mr. Hawking was a special case, Ms. Nhan was brought to England for nearly two months to stay with her foster parents. In her luggage at that time, there were rice paper, shiitake mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms so that she could show off her talent of frying Vietnamese spring rolls to treat her family. However, Mr. Hawking was fed through a feeding tube so he could not try the spring rolls she made.

Because the time with his son was short, he took full advantage of taking him shopping for clothes, going boating in Cambridge, visiting the zoo, and riding the giant London Ferris wheel. During her time in England, she also had the opportunity to study English at Oxford University, where Mr. Hawking taught. Mr. Hawking took care of his son's sleep, as he had to go to bed at 9 p.m.

Every morning, before going to work, he drives his wheelchair to the stairs to call his child, while Ms. Nhan is on the second floor."Thu Nhan, Thu Nhan. Dad's going to work," the voice came from the smart machine. At that moment, she ran down to see her dad to say goodbye.

Not understanding much about the black hole theories he researched, Ms. Nhan still remembers clearly the advice her scholar father gave:"With your own determination, you must try to study. If you want to grow up, the only way is to study. You cannot depend on anything without trying to study. Even though I am like this, I still keep trying and striving."

The time spent in England with Ms. Nhan was like a beautiful dream that she could never forget in her life. Back in Vietnam, she continued to contact her parents through letters. During holidays and Christmas, she still received letters, greeting cards, and sometimes money from her parents.

"Your father is a little weaker, Thu Nhan, but he still works and travels (we went to China in August). He is still determined to work to the best of his ability," Elaine wrote to Nhan on September 19, 2002.

The couple spent most of the letter asking about their adopted daughter's life."Where are you living now? Are you planning to rent a house and live with others? Who are your friends? How much are you paid for your long hours of work? How much will you have to pay in rent? Your father and I want to know so we can better understand the difficulties you may be going through. We send our love to you, Thu Nhan," she wrote.

Since 2006, cshe lost contact with her godparentsafter Elaine divorced him. Geographical and economic conditions have also made it difficult for her to visit her father in England since then. In 2015, the whole family went to see a film about his life in Hanoi.

The 39-year-old woman currently lives with her husband and two young children in a two-story house on Xuan Dinh Street, Bac Tu Liem District. The couple makes a living by running a restaurant.

Once, when looking at a picture of Hawking, her child asked: "Is this grandpa, mom?". She nodded: "You see, grandpa is here."Although he is disabled, he is very talented and makes many people admire him.Ms. Nhan advised her children to study hard, hoping that they would be even a fraction like their grandfather. Her eldest daughter is currently in 7th grade and has been an excellent student for many years.

Placing her godfather's mementos on the table, she stopped her son from playing with the film camera she bought in England for fear of damaging it. To her, it was like a treasure, carefully kept like a "museum". The bookThe dictionary her parents gave her was passed on to her younger sister before being sent back to the SOS village for the children to learn English. The 20-year-old ao dai still looks new thanks to careful preservation, and she still wears it occasionally. She hopes that her grown daughter will wear the ao dai Mr. Hawking gave her in the future.