Took a bunch of SG pix so my Anh Hai can find his way around when he goes back. :))) Things have changed quite a bit.
Got to see my Di Hai, who was surprised to see me, after a while she remembered I was her niece and my name. :) Spent a lot of time sitting there holding her hand, stroking her hair, kissing her. Was wonderful to be home again!
Visited Ngo Thi Minh's friend chu' Le Cong Danh, another great guitarist, who happened to work with my dad way back when.
I was able to find my Ba` Ngoai's grave. It's been 9 years, my aunt had lost her memory and didn't know where Ba` Ngoai's grave was. We knew she was buried next to Trinh Cong Son so Bro Thanh drove us around and we finally found her. She was buried in a Buddhist's cemetery called Chua` Quang Binh. We cleaned up her grave and burned incense and prayed. I can rest in peace now. ;)
From Chu' Danh, I tracked down Chu' Quy` who used to work with Dad. An older man now and sick, lying on the floor, he didn't want me to take his picture. He could not believe I was my Dad's daughter. A gleam in his eyes however, when we started talking about his team playing soccer. And of course, Chu' Quy` remembers well "tha(`ng Hai & thang So*n"...I was just a little girl.
The other highlight was Chu' Muoi, I finally found him after 34 years!! He worked for Dad, drove me to/from school every day! I would never forget him. He and Chu' Luan (I have not been able to locate chu' Luan.) I was searching for both of them every trip, I was able to trace and found chu' Muoi. He lives in Cai Lay en route to Rach Gia'...I could only see him for 20 minutes or so... We held each other's hand and cried...so many years have gone by, he remembers "Tha(`ng Ha?i, thang Son"...but he had no idea Que^'-Huong (I was only 12) would remember him. He said "I still remember your smile!"
The Saigon trip was very personal and healing for me. Each person I visited told me a story about my childhood, or stories about Dad that I haven't heard or forgotten. How precious is that? :)
QH
