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A Dedication to Our Grandmother – Celebrating 100 years
1908 was the Year of the Monkey. Vietnam had by this point been under French Colonial Rule for approximately 23 years, and eight year old Duy Tân, the 11th Emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty had been on the Imperial throne one year. In Hanoi that year mass demonstrations had been staged in protest of the French administration's excessive taxation. In that year Bùi Thị Cần, our grandmother (Moon’s paternal grandmother) was born.
A picture of my paternal grandmother-in-law with me taken last April 2006 at her home.
On the 9th day after Tet this year (25th February 2007), in the village of Hương Non, in the province of Phú Thọ, about eighty kilometers from Hà Nội, a special birthday celebration for Bùi Thị Cần was held by her family relatives, friends, village neighbours, the governor of the province, and some work colleagues of the family. Over one hundred people attended.
There was food and drinks, and there were speeches. Songs were sung, flowers and gifts were presented, and lots of photographs were taken. The weather was warm and the sun was shining. One hundred year old Bùi Thị Cần sat at the head of the tables, looking very happy and proud. For her very grand age, she looks remarkably well and she can walk by herself with just the aid of a stick.
A speech at grandmother-in-law's 100th Birthday Party Celebration.
She is a remarkable testament to her long life, having lived through decades of severe hardship, wars and famine. Bùi Thị Cần has seen the reigns of the last three emperors of Vietnam . She lived during the French Colonial occupation at the height of its power and thoughout its decline. The French administration was not kind to the working and farming peoples of her country for they had to endure the hardships of gross taxation, poverty, starvation, wars, disease and death. During the first Indochina war (1946 to 1954) against the French forces, Bùi Thị Cần helped the Việt Minh forces by carrying food to the troops.
The well at grandmother's house. Their only clean water supply!
Bùi Thị Cần was born in Hương Non village and has lived her entire life there. The house where she lives today sits by a small lake. The air is always fresh here and the gentle breeze coming across the lake helps keep their house cool during the hot summer months. The front garden slopes down to the shore of the lake. Her family grows many vegetables and fruits in this garden. At the top of the garden bank, there is a well and this is the water supply to their home.
Standing by the banana tree in her garden.
Bùi Thị Cần married at the age of 20 to Trần Huu Tru, a teacher who used to write in the old script called Chữ-Ha'n Nôm and together they had three sons. In addition, Bùi Thị Cần adopted an orphan boy. She is a very proud mother to all her sons.
Her adopted son, Dang Hong Tam was born in 1930. He came into grandmother’s care around the age of 9 when he lost his parents to starvation and disease because of the terrible conditions at that time. Later in the war he joined with the Việt Minh forces and fought as a guerilla soldier against the French armies. He fought in the victorious battle of Điện Biên Phủ in 1954. He also served in the American Vietnam war and joined the Vietnamese National Party in 1960. He was the chief commissioner of the cabinet for Hà Giang province and worked as the Department Manager for the Administration of the National Party’s Central Committee. Hong Tam was awarded a second class medal for his services in the French war and a first class medal for his efforts in the American war. These medals were presented by Hồ Chí Minh and the government. For his commendable efforts in the wars, the government also presented Hong Tam with a prestigious home in Hanoi that previously belonged to the Empress Nam Phương, the wife of the 13th and last emperor of Vietnam , Bảo Đại. Sadly, Hong Tam died last summer on the day of our wedding in Scotland, Tobermory. His wife and children continue to live at the former home of the Empress where they run a leather business.
Empress Nam Phương
Bùi Thị Cần’s eldest son by birth is Trần Xuan Thu, born in 1934. He trained to be a doctor and served in the American War, first as a nurse, and then later as a doctor at the Army Medical Institute in Hanoi . Xuan Thu has two sons.
Her second son by birth is Trần Xuan Hoi, born in 1940. He also served in the American War as a soldier until it was over in 1975 and continued in the army until 1976 and now works in farming. Xuan Hoi has two sons and a daughter. His eldest son is working in Korea and is married with a son and daughter. Xuan Hoi’s daughter works as a teacher and is married with two sons. His younger son serves a soldier in the Vietnamese army, is married to a nurse, and they have one son.
Grandmother’s third son (Moon’s father) is Trần Văn Hop born in 1945. He studied at Hanoi Medical University and won a scholarship to do five years study for a doctor’s diploma in Moscow from 1980 to 1984 . Văn Hop has been a professor since 1992 and is the director of the faculty specializing in pathology and cancer diseases. He is about to become the General Director for Vietnam ’s first ever hospital for cancer disease. Văn Hop has an entry in the book 'Vietnamese Contemporary Doctors' published in 2003. Văn Hop has a son and daughter. His son and daughter-in-law have one son born in December 2004. His daughter has recently married an English man (who could that be?
), and she is expecting her first child in October.
Grandmother with one of her great grandsons at her 100th birthday celebration!
Just a few years ago Grandmother had a bad fall and broke her leg. She lay in her bed for nearly one year. Yet, in spite of her age, she was determined to make a good recovery, and she began by moving around the house just with her arms and then slowly but surely with her legs. After just a few more months she could walk again with the her stick. Grandmother has a remarkable determination and spirit. She has exceeded the expectations of many.
On reflection of grandmother's remarkable life I would like to end on a romantic note with a quotation from Robert Browning's book 'Rabbi Ben Ezra'
"Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be."
In Vietnamese there is a saying similar to this:
Hãy sống với nhau tới lúc đầu bạc răng long. Được như thế thì còn gì tốt đẹp hơn nào!
Roughly translated it says 'let us live and love each other until the day our hairs are white and our teeth have fallen out. Let us continue to improve for the rest of our life for there is nothing better than to do that!
What a truly remarkable lady. If you are able, please pass on my congratulations to her. It also strikes me that the spirit, not the body, makes a person strong, as you noted when she broke her leg and was determined to make a good recovery and walk again. My grandmother was born the same year, but we lost her in 1981, which makes me appreciate just what a long life your wife's grandmother has had. Thanks for sharing this uplifting story. May your wife and you live to be the same venerable age.
How wonderful is this story. So cool that you know so much about her family adn what they did etc..Apart from that, your granny is awsome! Soooo old! So much history there!
Tahnks by the way for your comments. MY friend lives in Pu Xi in Shanghai. I can't wait to go there.
x isis
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