(Baonghean.vn) - Despite losing their sight, Mr. Truong The Trung and Ms. Phan Thi Hoa, a couple from Dong Tho Hamlet, Hung Dung Ward (Vinh City), found their light in love, sharing, and empathy. The sweet fruit of their love is their two adorable and charming sons, one five years old and the other just seven months old…

Happiness blossoms from the darkness.

The home of Mr. Trung and Ms. Hoa, located at the end of Ham Nghi Street in Dong Tho Hamlet, Hung Dung Ward (Vinh City), is simple but tidy and always filled with laughter. When we visited, Mr. Trung was selling toothpicks from the blind association in the southern provinces, with his two lovely children beside him. Ms. Hoa smiled happily as she reminisced about their love story…

Trung, originally from Tinh Gia, Thanh Hoa, is the youngest of seven children. He lost his sight when he was only two years old. Hoa, the fifth of six children, was a perfectly healthy child until her eyesight gradually deteriorated around the age of five or six. Initially, her parents thought she had an eye infection that wouldn't go away with eye drops, so they took her to the hospital. Doctors diagnosed Hoa with uveitis, and because they brought her in too late, it was too late to save her eyesight.However, the burning desire to go to school and learn to read and write always smoldered in her heart.

To please his daughter,In 1993, her parents took her to the Provincial Vocational Training Center for the Disabled to study, and that's where she met Trung. Both were the same age (born in 1980), entered the school on the same day, were in the same class, and even sat at the same desk, so they quickly became close friends. They confided in each other about their joys and sorrows, encouraged each other to learn a trade to make a living, and become useful members of society. She said that after a while, they became close and developed feelings for each other, but because of their circumstances, they kept their feelings hidden. "Rich in eyesight, poor in hands," she thought. "One person is already a burden to the family, let alone two who are both visually impaired. How would they care for their children if they had children?"

After seven years of studying at the Vocational Training Center for the Disabled, Trung joined the Thanh Hoa Association for the Blind. Having a talent for music and knowing how to play many instruments from organ to guitar, harmonica, and flute, he joined a band to sing at weddings to make a living. Meanwhile, Hoa worked as a Braille teacher at the Vinh City Association for the Blind. The two kept in touch, offering each other support and encouragement. In 2006, Trung moved to Vinh City and rented a kiosk on Nguyen Sy Sach Street to open a massage parlor, giving them the opportunity to be closer.

Their love blossomed and bore fruit, and they decided to build a home together. Initially, both families were skeptical, as parents naturally hoped their children would find a sighted partner to support them in life. But with the young couple's determination, both families wholeheartedly supported them. A simple, warm wedding took place in 2007, filled with boundless joy and tears of happiness and sadness from their loved ones.

What touched everyone present was that the MC, the band, and the singers who entertained the guests at the wedding were all visually impaired, friends of Trung and Hoa. The joy was doubled when, a year after the wedding, their first son, Truong The Vinh, was born.



Mr. Trung and Ms. Hoa are pictured here on their eldest son Truong The Vinh's first birthday.

The boy was fair-skinned, mischievous, and handsome, with bright black eyes like lychee seeds. Because both parents were visually impaired, from the time they got married until the child was born, they were always worried about whether their children would be affected by their blindness. When they learned that their child was born with perfectly normal eyesight, their worries ended, and they were so happy they cried...

Love is life…

Initially, they lived in their maternal grandmother's house. After some time, with the support of the Red Cross, the Association for the Blind, and the help of relatives, friends, and acquaintances, they built a small house on a plot of land in the garden that their maternal grandparents had given them.

What is admirable about this couple is their resilience and self-reliance, striving to raise their children, build a happy family, and help those in similar circumstances through their own hard work.wood.

Ms. Hoa has been involved for decades and is currently the president of the City Association of the Blind. Mr. Trung is also a member of the bamboo toothpick sales group produced by the association. Because the market in the province is shrinking, Mr. Trung and his sales group have to leave home several times a year, each time for a few months, mainly to the Central Highlands and even to Saigon to sell toothpicks. Each trip has 3-4 people in the group, with each visually impaired person hiring a sighted person to guide them. They sell to regular customers, companies, and retail, and when they run out, they call for more to be sent by bus to sell again.

Despite the hard work, Trung and his group members sell about 4-5 tons of toothpicks to the City Association for the Blind each year. They also opened a small massage business, providing stable employment for 5-6 visually impaired people in the districts, with a steady income of 2-3 million VND per month. In 2012, they welcomed a new member to their family, their son Truong Thanh Tuan, now 7 months old, is just as chubby and adorable as his older brother. With the addition of a child, alongside the joy, the worries and hardships have also increased, but they remain optimistic about a bright future.

Ms. Phan Thi Hoa and her two children.

She confided: her husband has long since lost his sight in both eyes, while she, after a lens transplant, can still see dimly in one eye, about 1/10 of its normal vision. She only hopes to maintain this condition for a few more years to care for her children until they are older and more independent. Fortunately, her eldest child, only 5 years old, is already conscious of helping her parents; at mealtimes, she knows how to get bowls and chopsticks and serve food to them. Whenever her parents ask her to fetch something, she runs very quickly…

Ms. Hoa bent down to kiss her child and smiled brightly, warming our hearts. Although they still face challenges, I believe they will have the faith and strength to overcome them all and build a happy home for themselves. Because, as she often shares, "love is life..."

Khanh Ly