Writing to Dad on Vu Lan Season

(Baonghean) - Every year, when the seventh lunar month comes, Vu Lan season - the season to show gratitude to parents, my heart aches with regret - I miss my father and mother to the core. My duty as a child has not been able to repay my parents' kindness. Those people who I loved and respected to the core have now gone far away.

Illustration photo (Internet photo)

My parents gave birth to four children. My mother died early, and we grew up in the arms of my father. As the years passed… We grew up innocently in the arms of my father and grandmother like potatoes and rice grains in the hard-working countryside of Yen Thanh. Since my mother passed away, my father loved us with all the love of both my mother and father combined. To ensure that we would not suffer from hunger and poverty, my father did not hesitate to do any work in the fields, regardless of time, rain or shine… plowing and tending the garden, all day in the rain and sun, his shirt always soaked with sweat, but I never heard my father complain.

Perhaps, because of our mother's early death and our poor family, my sisters and I loved our father very much. Knowing our situation, we never asked for or compared ourselves with children from other families or friends of the same age. We felt comfortable and satisfied with what we had and proud of our father. Knowing how much hardship and worry our father had, we almost never displeased him. On the contrary, he respected and cherished our spiritual life.

My father's upbringing, his determination and sacrifice have given my sisters and I the strength and confidence to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in life and in our efforts to grow up. When he was alive, my father often reminded us that if we were employees, we must listen to our superiors and fulfill our duties excellently. If we were leaders, we must have the heart and morality to love and guide our employees, strive to grow up, and not use our positions to punish them. "If you love others, God will love you, my children."

Vu Lan season has come. Father, I write these lines to dedicate to my parents. On this Vu Lan season, I want to send a message to my children: Love your parents! Your parents gave birth to you, raised you, and endured countless hardships. Rain or shine, day or night, they don't care, as long as they protect you so you can sleep peacefully and study well. Vu Lan season has come: Don't let sadness appear in your parents' eyes!

Pham Thi To Tam