The Last Wish of a 97-Year-Old Father

(Baonghean) - Although he is at an old age, Mr. Nguyen Trong Thi (97 years old) in Dong Ban hamlet, Kim Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) is still worried about his disabled children and grandchildren.

In early 1968, Mr. Thi and his wife encouraged their eldest son to join the southern battlefield. At the beginning of the year, the family received bad news: their son died in the fiercest battle. Following his example, the second daughter also volunteered to join the frontline labor force. At the end of 1972, she was hit by a bullet and heroically died. After the memorial service for her brother and sister, the sixth daughter also volunteered to join the army. But the family already had two martyrs, so she was not allowed to join the army.

His family had many children, but there was not enough rice to eat, so they often had to eat potatoes, cassava, and pennywort for meals. None of his children had a chance to study properly, because they had to work hard in the fields and at the end of the fields to earn a living. In order to earn enough food and clothes, his children left their hometown one by one to start a business. The remaining three children were in their hometown, and the daughter, Nguyen Thi Lan, was born with a disability, with a bent foot, and had to walk with a cane, unable to work.

Being disabled since childhood, Ms. Lan has difficulty moving and working. Photo: Ha Linh

Unlucky to have a husband, she still longed to fulfill her womanly duties, so she accepted to be a single mother. With the love and support of her parents and siblings, they joined hands and contributed to buy an old house from the cooperative and built a house for mother and child to live together in her parents' garden. In 1983, her daughter cried out at birth, and she thought that her miserable and lonely life would pass.

But misfortune struck when the baby was born not like normal children. Ms. Lan took her daughter to be treated everywhere, but the older her daughter got, the more serious her illness became. Seeing her daughter acting foolishly, often running out into the street to chase children home from school and threaten them... her heart ached. Her feet were deformed and bent, making it difficult to walk, and housework was also very hard.

More painfully, her disabled child, every time he had a fit, would grab a knife and threaten to slash his mother, or chase his grandfather out of the house. At times like that, she tried to avoid him while comforting him.

In 2008, the house that Mr. Thi's children built for Ms. Lan collapsed in a storm, leaving the mother and child helpless. Mr. Thi had to bring his children and grandchildren to live in his family's kitchen so that he could take care of him because he was old and could not move around. The kitchen where the three of them, grandfather and grandchildren were living was also too dilapidated, and it was unknown when it would collapse, but rebuilding or repairing it was impossible for Ms. Lan, because daily life was already too difficult.

Lan and her children receive a state subsidy for the disabled, 910,000 VND per month. Mr. Thi receives a pension for his two children who are martyrs and a pension for the elderly, 2,650,000 VND.

That monthly allowance covers the living expenses of all three members of the small family. Worried about his disabled daughter and sick grandchild, Mr. Thi often cannot sleep at night, worrying that when he is gone, his children and grandchildren will not know where to live...

In 2012, his wife, Mrs. Phan Thi Duc, was posthumously awarded the title of Vietnamese Heroic Mother by the State. In 2014, Mr. Thi received financial support from the State to build a tiled house as a place to worship the two martyrs' children and his wife.

The elderly father and his disabled daughter and grandchild depend on each other to get by. Photo: Ha Linh

Mr. Nguyen Van Dan - Secretary of the Kim Thanh Commune Party Committee said: Mr. Thi's family is a policy household, the government supported 40 million VND to build a house, but that house is only to be used as a church for martyrs and Vietnamese Heroic Mothers.

Everyone knows, sympathizes and shares Ms. Lan's situation, and listens to Mr. Thi's wishes, but the commune government cannot provide much support. We hope that readers near and far will join hands and contribute to help the nearly 100-year-old man's wish so that he can rest in peace.

Ha Linh