Qingming Festival in March

An remembers that in the past, when her mother was still alive, every year she would ride her motorbike to take her mother back to her hometown in Thuan An, Binh Duong to visit the graves, pull out weeds, and clean the family graves. Then, mother and daughter would take turns arranging flowers, displaying fruits, cakes, and burning incense at the graves.

At these times, my mother often said: "Thanh Minh Festival is a traditional custom, a day for descendants in the family to gather, light incense sticks to remember, express respect, and show gratitude to ancestors who have given their descendants a warm, prosperous, happy, and peaceful life."

Every time her mother taught, An would silently listen, she could feel the love in each word her mother said. However, being young, listening was just to know, although in her heart she always remembered her mother's teachings, but the level of feeling, thinking and intention was still not deep...

There wasn't much work to do during the Qingming Festival, but it still took the whole morning. The weather in the third lunar month was often hot and sunny. An was busy helping his mother, but after running around for a while, his face was covered in sweat, and his sideburns stuck to his stubborn forehead. An was about to complain about being tired, but when he turned around, he saw that his mother's back was even wetter than his face, so he stopped. An quickly found a paper fan in his pocket, then approached his mother, gave her a few cool breezes and asked: "Do you feel cool when I fan you?". His mother turned to look at An and smiled, a gentle and beautiful smile...

Then one day, An’s mother’s beautiful smile and gentle face were imprinted on the stone tablet of a small grave in the family cemetery. From then on, every year on the eve of Lunar New Year and Qingming Festival, An never missed a day at the family cemetery. After her mother passed away, An took on her mother’s sacred duty: to remember the day of visiting the graves, to show gratitude and remember her ancestors.

In a few days, it will be Qingming Festival, and An suddenly misses her parents so much! The beautiful memories and recollections seem to receive messages from her heart, appearing in An's mind like slow-motion films, filled with loving images, affectionate eyes, gentle smiles, sincere conversations, the hearts and love of her parents forever imbued with gratitude... Her tears just kept flowing, her heart pounding with so many emotions!

Suppressing a little resentment, a little love, a lingering feeling of nostalgia, An told herself with the weakness of her small heart, to her mother far away: "My daughter will forever remember the beautiful memories I had with my family, with my parents!"

This Qingming Festival, I will return to my parents, so that I can light a stick of incense filled with the love of a child who always misses his parents and is grateful to his ancestors who have always been the source, the pride, and the motivation for his descendants yesterday, today and tomorrow to be more steadfast in their journey of life.

BAO LAM

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/thanh-minh-trong-tiet-thang-3-post789388.html