Bút Ký: BA - THE DAD (2) - Trương N. Hương

My father’s ambitions include but is not limited to: stability for the family, each of his kids achieving a better living than himself, giving back to the community, and paying his dues in life. He has been working at the same factory longer than I have been breathing air on this Earth. Until I was seventeen, I never thought that maybe he, too, had a dream job and places he wished he could have gone in life. “Ba, what is your dream job? What do you wish you could do in life besides your current job?” I asked as I helped him fill out one of those online security questions for his utilities billing account. He pauses for a moment and replied, “Electric technician. I want to work with wires and electricity and make things work.” This answer was shocking but not surprising. Shockingly, learning that my father had a dream job was information that never occurs to pass my mind. Not surprisingly, his dream occupation included messing with electricity and technology. Although he is old, his curiosity remains young. Usually, he is a decade behind on his discoveries of machinery. However, that never stopped him. The man built his own video-producing studio in our living room, filmed events on a camcorder, edited his work with second-hand equipment gathered from garage sales and spent hours putting together a video or DVD to watch and share with others. Starting in fourth grade, he filmed a good chunk of my childhood growing up at temple, my dance routines, my award ceremonies, and even fun videos at home around the house. My father was the home-video master. Through trial and error, he learnt how to put text on screen while also lacing in music from our extensive Paris By Night music DVD collection. He could innovate and do anything he wanted to satisfy his curiosity and creativity. If he wanted to, my father could build an entire house from the ground up. Of course, he would make me help because you can always learn something new. are rare to none as I grew up. I do not blame my father for not being as affectionate as other dads because that is who he is. His actions speak louder than his words when it comes down to showing love. Instead of hugging, he would smile and pat

me on the shoulder and ask what I wanted to eat for dinner that night. Instead of kisses, he would slip a few bucks on my night counter before he goes to work at five thirty in the morning. We would talk about Vietnamese music, politics, and tease my mom about watering her plants when rain is pouring outside. There are distinct little moments that I vividly remember us sharing. One of my favorites happened on when he took my mom and I back to Vietnam the summer before my junior year of high school. Ba gazing out onto a river as we rode a boat on a river in Vietnam heading towards a cave we went and explored on a tour My trip back to Vietnam with my parents was important. The first time I saw the ocean in Vietnam in Vung Tau, my mom’s hometown, my dad took me on a morning walk and handed me breakfast, a Banh Mi sandwich he bought from the vender down the street. We walked from my cousin’s house, mostly in comfortable silence. Along the way, he would point to places and tell me facts about the locals. We got to the beach and he began talking about the fishing boats and we got to the see the sunrise together. That was one of our best father-daughter moments for I could see how overjoyed he was that I got to see his home for the first time. That journey taught me so much about my parents. I would gladly go back with them again if the opportunity ever presents itself. (to be continued)