09/12/06

The following are articles I have written throughout the years.  Per Dung's encouragement,
I saved these articles to commemorate our growing up together.  It is for Dung with all my heart.

I wrote this when I was at Compaq in 1998 for the flood victims in Vietnam.  There were several versions of
it floating in the Vietnamese communities through out the US.  Recently I saw it surfaced on the Vietnamese
Catholic Website.  Here is the original.  Shortened without commentaries.

Dear Friends, 

A friend  of mine recently visited Vietnam and told me a story that touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes.

Thanh and his wife went out to eat one night in Saigon.  As they ate, Thanh could not help but notice a 10 year old girl hovering right outside the door of the restaurant.  She was holding a little baby probably no more than two years old, and a little boy of five or six was at her side. She was staring at the food, and every time Thanh looked at her, she would look away, hurdled her brother closer to her, afraid and embarrassed.  The late night rain started.  It wetted her unkempt hair, and the dirty clothe on her back.  She tried hard to keep the baby dry, and her little brother out of the rain.  Shivering and hungry.

Thanh and his wife invited the girl and her siblings inside and ordered food for them.  Timid and grateful, the girl carefully fed her baby sister and brother.  After the younger ones were fed, she ate their left-over leaving her full portion untouched.  Puzzled and curious, Thanh asked her why she did not eat her meal while it was obvious that she was still hungry.  The little girl looked up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks, begging him to let her take the portion home to her sick mother.

I have a twelve year old daughter named Van, and two little boys, Vinh and Minh. Last night when I took them to McDonalds, Van wasn’t hungry and did not want to eat.  Perhaps she was too anxious to get back to her teenage friends on the phone.  I looked at Van and the image of the 10 year old girl in Saigon flooded my mind.  Van had no idea how lucky she is to be here. 

I looked at my kids and thanked God for my blessings.  There are millions of other kids in Vietnam that are not as lucky as mine.  There are millions of American kids not lucky as mine. Thank God for our daily bread.