I want to celebrate Tet in my husband's hometown, mom!

Family reunion Tet 2018 - Photo: provided by the author

I was born and raised in Saigon, so the concept of "Tet in my hometown" is sometimes encapsulated in simple memories.

It is the empty streets instead of the traffic jams during rush hour, the spring markets where you buy Tet items at Ho Thi Ky flower market or go hunting for apricot, kumquat, and marigolds at Ben Binh Dong. It is dressing up to go out on Nguyen Hue flower street or having a good laugh at blackjack games.

Only when I married a man from another province and had a new place to return to, did I fully appreciate the preciousness of the two words "homeland".

In the past, the first time I brought my husband home for dinner, he immediately loved the Quang noodles my mother cooked because it was so flavorful. The first time I went to my husband's hometown, the strongest impression was the garden with green trees, clean vegetables, and rice with braised perch in a clay pot, and jute soup cooked with field crab.

When her daughter-in-law was pregnant, her mother took care of her and supported her wholeheartedly. When she welcomed her first daughter, she was the first person to wait and worry in the post-operative room.

I miss the image of my mother-in-law who traveled a long way from her poor hometown to take care of her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. People often say that a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law rarely get close to each other. Personally, I feel completely different. She is my mother-in-law but treats me as kindly as her own mother.

During the time I was in confinement, my mother had a hard time reconciling the differences. I miss the delicious meals my mother cooked, the sweaty mother waiting in line to carry her grandchild to get vaccinated, the nights when she forgot to eat and sleep while taking care of her sick grandchild, and the black hair turning gray to help her daughter-in-law.

During the pandemic, our extended family celebrates Tet, gathers and gives each other red envelopes online through calls, messages, and video calls. After a year of struggling to make ends meet, we look forward to Tet the most to reunite, but... Tet is still spent apart.

Life is gradually reviving, the youthful rhythm of a healthy Saigon is returning. The couple is trying to "work hard" and save money to return home for Tet.

I want to go back to my husband's hometown to celebrate Tet with my parents, to give them a warm hug in person after so many days apart. To let my little grandchild sing "Grandma, Grandma, I love you so much..." in my grandmother's arms.

To help my mother prepare the New Year's Eve meal to worship heaven, earth and ancestors. No longer apart, the whole family will prepare dong leaves, sticky rice, green beans, pork, pickled onions, cakes and jams to bring the family a full and warm Tet.

Next to the pot of banh chung, next to the red fire, grandparents and parents tell their children and grandchildren about their family history, about the joys and sorrows of life. A few roasted potatoes and corns buried in the red coals as gifts make the "once upon a time" stories even more lively.

According to Tuoi Tre