The Reunion with My Father

ow would you feel if you had to live without your father? Why is a father so important? Often, the father is the head of the family and thus has more responsibilities. Whether the family gains honor or not depends on what he does. How well the children are disciplined is largely dependent on him. The father is like the steering wheel of a car. According to a Vietnamese proverb, "A child without a father is like a house without a roof." The father is the most significant and disciplined man in the family.

My family lived in a small village called Lang Co, in Hue, a city in central Viet Nam. The Pacific Ocean and the huge beautiful mountains surrounded this place. Most people who lived there usually did fishing for a living; and my family did the same. There were five members in my family, including my aunt. My father was a fisherman. One night, he went fishing and never came back. I was told that when my mother heard a rumor that my father and some other fishermen had escaped for America, she cried and acted like a crazy woman who had lost her husband. Her tears flowed down endlessly on her cheeks. At that time, I was one year old, and my older brother was three. Even after six years later, when I was seven years of age, we still did not hear anything from my father, but we remained hopeful that one day we might see him again. Since then, my mother worked very hard in order to provide enough food and clothes for both of us. Sometimes, she was gone for two or three weeks, so my mom's sister took care of us.

On one lovely, cold Christmas Eve, as we gathered to celebrate, a mailman came and gave a letter to my mother. She immediately opened it up. We suddenly heard a scream coming from an adjacent room where my mother was reading the mail. We ran into that room only to discover that the scream was my mother's excitement over reading the letter. She was both crying and laughing at the same time. She was so excited that she began hugging all of us and said softly in each one of our ears, "This is your father's letter; he is still alive."

At this news, we become overjoyed too. We jumped up and down and started hugging and kissing one another. At that moment, we gave thanks to God. I still remember clearly that it was the best Christmas Eve in my life, and it was a wonderful Christmas for my family, having received surprises and happiness at the same time.

When my brother and I grew up, it became even more difficult for my mother to discipline us. She was afraid that we might grow up acting like bad and wild people when we did not obey her, such as skipping classes and so on. On the other hand, she did not need to work as hard as she used to in order to take care of us or send us to school for my father provided money to support my family every year. We lived a better life. At that time, I was in the ninth grade.

Even though my life was better than other kids my age, I felt a void in my life. That void was the absence of my father. Whenever I looked at the father of one of my friends, I felt sadness and disappointment inside. I often cried and prayed alone every night for a united family. Although my father lived thousands and thousands of miles away from me, his image was always in my heart, and I believed it was the same for him with me. Since the time he left us, sixteen years passed before we became united as one family in Westminster, California.

The first time I saw my father at Los Angeles International Airport, I was full of joy and happiness. The first word that appeared to my mind was "father." But I could not make myself to call him my father because it has been such a long time. Before I met him, I wished I could hug and kiss him, but when he appeared in front of me, I could not do it. Everything turned out differently from what I had expected. Living with my father for the last three years, I learned a lot of things from him. I also received many good advice. I see him as the greatest father who fulfills his responsibilities for his own family and some time for others.

Having a father is like a blessing from God. A father often tries to protect his children when they are in need. He is also ready to sacrifice his own time, money and even his life to serve his family.