Simple happiness…

(Baonghean) -Overcoming the pain of fate, a young man in a poor rice village in Yen Thanh has built himself a job and a happy home. That is the story of Mr. Le Dinh Trong in village 8, Hung Thanh commune (Yen Thanh).

Overcoming fate

Born in 1972, during the time when the American army was bombing fiercely, Trong cried out at birth in a shelter. For a whole month after his birth, Trong and his mother lived in a damp, unsanitary shelter, and even though the basement was lined with planks, the water still reached up to their ankles. At that time, Trong's mother was worried that her son would grow up with some kind of disability or poor health.

And what Trong's mother worried about came true, when Trong was just learning to walk, his body started to have complications, his limbs were cramped. Although his family took him to Hanoi for treatment for a whole year, Trong's condition did not improve and the doctors were helpless. In 1978, a heavy rain broke the dam, Trong could not walk, so his parents had to take turns carrying him through the flood. When he grew up, seeing his friends of the same age going to school, Trong also wanted to go to school. His burning desire did not come true because his family was poor, Trong could not go to school by himself, so he had to endure illiteracy. For decades, Trong could not walk, all his activities had to be supported by his family members.

Mr. Trong's daily work.

Unable to walk, Trong was very sad. Many young men in the village at his age had stable jobs and many children, but at the age of 26, Trong still could not support himself. Not giving up on fate, Trong was determined to stand up for himself with his own hands and mind. However, Trong's biggest difficulty was that he was illiterate and disabled, so what job could he do that was suitable for his health? Having a piece of land on the road at the beginning of the village, Trong asked his parents to build a small stall to sell cigarettes and tea to make a living.

Not long after, seeing that people were using more and more electrical and electronic devices, Trong suddenly had an idea: "Why don't I repair electrical devices?". Thinking and doing, Trong took the family's stove and electric fan and took them apart to learn their structure. Disassembling them was possible, but putting them back together was difficult. Many times, the electrical devices Trong disassembled and reassembled caused them to explode and break completely, but the disabled young man still did not give up his determination to learn the trade himself. Thanks to that, Trong gradually understood the operating principles of each household electrical device. After 5 years of experimenting, Trong's achievements were finally rewarded. From an illiterate and machine-illiterate person, Trong was able to repair electrical devices for his family and neighbors. Gradually, word of mouth spread about Trong's ability, so throughout the village, hamlet and neighboring areas, anyone with a broken electrical or electronic device would bring it to him for repair.

While repairing household electrical appliances, Trong also studied on his own to improve his skills through television. The most difficult thing about learning and repairing electrical appliances for the disabled young man was his illiteracy: "My biggest disadvantage is not being able to study. If I knew how to read, I would have access to electronic devices and electrical appliances through books and newspapers, and watching them online, I would have done better," Trong said. But thanks to working, Trong's hands are more flexible, stronger and no longer cramped like before. Now, Trong can get on and off the 3-wheeled vehicle with his hands without any help.

Happiness blooms

Although he was in a wheelchair, Trong was often taken along when his friends went out to "woo" girls. Despite his disability, Trong was gentle and had a charming way of talking, so many girls in the village and neighboring areas admired him. At the age of 25, his parents repeatedly urged him to get married because there was a girl in the same village who felt sorry for him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. His mother even said: "I'm old and weak, I won't live much longer, you should get married so I can rest in peace." Hearing his mother say that, Trong felt very sorry for his mother. But Trong thought, he couldn't even take care of himself, so he kept putting it off.

Once, when his friend took him to a neighboring village, Trong accidentally met a village girl named Pham Thi Cong, who was 7 years younger than him. Cong's charming and open way of speaking and her constant smile captivated the disabled boy without him realizing it. And from then on, Trong thought he had found his "other half" but kept it hidden in his heart, not daring to express it... As for the girl Pham Thi Cong, she was also the target of many young men at that time. Her family even arranged for her to be with a healthy young man with a stable job in the same village, but she refused.

When she met Trong, at first she thought they were just friends talking for fun, but seeing the sincerity of the disabled man, she gradually fell in love. Her family knew about the matter and tried to stop and oppose it. But she still kept her decision: "People don't know what will happen in life, if I marry a normal person and unfortunately he gets sick, I will suffer even more. Maybe God has brought me and him together", she looked at her husband affectionately.

Mr. Le Dinh Trong and his family.

On the day they got married, everyone in the village from the beginning of the village to the end of the hamlet were surprised. How could they not be surprised that a healthy girl could accept to marry a disabled man who was nearly 40 years old. The wedding did not have a high table, full of food, just a cup of water, a piece of betel, but it ignited the disabled man's faith, desire to live and hope for true happiness. After getting married, the couple's life was extremely difficult. In addition to 3 sao of contracted rice fields, Trong and his relatives gave him a little capital to discuss with his wife to buy some breeding chickens and a pair of pigs to raise. Every summer, the young couple used their garden to sell mixed tea and soft drinks to serve customers. In addition, Trong's job repairing household electrical appliances also helped the couple earn extra income.

Currently, the couple's greatest assets are their two beautiful, healthy daughters. Mr. Trong talks about his two daughters without hiding his happiness: "Whether hungry or full, perhaps the greatest joy for my wife and I right now is that both of our children are healthy. If one of them were to get sick or not be healthy like their father, our lives would be in trouble." The eldest daughter of Trong and his wife, Le Thi Ly, is in kindergarten and the youngest daughter is only 11 months old. Every day, the wife goes to work and the husband stays home to look after the children. At night, Trong works hard to fix electrical appliances for neighbors until midnight to help his wife make ends meet. While busy repairing an electric motor for a customer, Trong explained: “I only hope to earn money for daily food and save up to buy milk for my children. On a good day, I only earn 20-30 thousand VND at most. Although the salary is not much, it helps me feel that my life has meaning.”

Duy Ngoi