Three is all

The house had two children, father and daughter, whispering to each other. The day I passed the entrance exam to Binh Phuoc Pedagogical College (now Binh Phuoc College), my father was so happy that he went around showing off to the whole neighborhood. I was half happy and half worried, happy because I was about to fulfill my dream of becoming a teacher, but worried that studying far from home would make my father lonely and lonely. I thought a lot, hesitating between going and staying. My father seemed to understand my feelings, encouraging me to go to school with peace of mind, saying that he was still healthy, there were neighbors around, so there was nothing to worry about. Then my father put a few hundred thousand dong in my hand and told me to buy some new clothes, because I was about to become a student and had to look presentable.

Back then, communication was not as convenient as it is now, so I usually had to write letters or go to the post office to call. If my father wanted to talk to me, he would have to go to the post office twice: the first time he called the student dormitory phone number to ask me to leave a message for him after school, then he would pick up the phone, then in the afternoon he would ride his bike to the post office, 8km away from home, to call me. I told him that writing letters to me was fine, calling was both a long distance and expensive. He laughed and said he missed his daughter so much, he wanted to hear her voice…

During the 3 years I studied education, I don't know how many kilometers my father cycled just to hear my voice and know that I was safe. Every day I announced that I was coming home, my father was as happy as a child receiving a gift. He eagerly went back and forth to prepare my favorite dishes, and told everyone in the neighborhood that his daughter would come home for the weekend.

At that time, there were few means of transportation, there were only a few buses going from Tay Ninh to Bu Dang every day and I would wait for the right time to catch that bus to Chon Thanh. The bus stopped for me to get off at the Chon Thanh intersection, my house was 15km away. And every time, as soon as the bus stopped, I saw my father standing next to his bicycle waiting. That year, my father was over 50 years old, carrying his daughter sitting on his back, while driving, he asked me all kinds of questions about life, study, and what I wanted to eat, he saw that I was a bit thin recently. At that time, I felt like I was 5 or 6 years old again.

I don't know who my biological parents are, perhaps for some reason they left me at the temple gate when I was only 1 year old. I was very lucky to be my father's child. My father's house was near the temple, he often came back and forth to do charity work, the first time he met me, he said he felt an indescribable feeling of love, then he decided to ask the temple to let him raise me. At that time, my father was over 30 years old, not married or having children, many people were worried about how a clumsy man could raise a child?! But then my father proved to everyone that he had done his job very well. My father was just a simple farmer, but his daughter still had enough food and warm clothes, and was not inferior to anyone in her education.

I graduated and worked in Dong Xoai, then got married here. My father still lives in Chon Thanh, surrounded by a small house and a garden full of flowers and fruits. Many times my wife and I suggested that my father come to live with us, but he refused. He said the bus time was convenient, and he could take the bus there himself whenever he wanted. He had a familiar neighborhood here, and he couldn't bear to go somewhere else. I knew he didn't want to bother his children, so my wife and I often arranged to visit him on the weekends. He was still as happy as ever every time I came home from studying far away.

Perhaps to my father, a man over 70 years old, I, even though I am 40 years old, am still his little child. He still salts onions and stir-fries bamboo shoots every time I come home, and when I leave, he slips a few hundred thousand dong into my hand like when I was still in school... Now I am strong enough to support my father, but that feeling of being cared for makes me feel small in my father's arms. I have never said thank you to my father, because I think any thank you to him is not enough. It's like my father gave me a second birth, so that I can live a beautiful and meaningful life!

Hello love, season 4, theme "Father" officially launched from December 27, 2024 on four types of press and digital infrastructure of Radio - Television and Binh Phuoc Newspaper (BPTV), promising to bring to the public the wonderful values of sacred and noble fatherly love.
Please send to BPTV your touching stories about Father by writing articles, writing feelings, poems, essays, video clips, songs (with recordings),... via email [email protected], Editorial Secretary Office, Binh Phuoc Radio - Television and Newspaper, No. 228, Tran Hung Dao, Tan Phu Ward, Dong Xoai City, Binh Phuoc Province, phone number: 0271.3870403. The time to receive articles is from now until August 30, 2025.
Quality articles will be published, paid royalties, and rewarded at the end of the topic with 1 special prize and 10 excellent prizes.
Let's continue writing the story about Father with "Hello Love" season 4, so that stories about Father can spread and touch everyone's hearts!

Source: https://baobinhphuoc.com.vn/news/19/171061/co-ba-la-co-tat-ca