Hard to draw dreams

The Godfather - a movie that brings tears to viewers. People cry, not because of weakness or immediate emotions, but because of the characters and situations built in the movie that seem to recreate a miniature family. Families are not always peaceful, harmonious, and happy, but there are also conflicts, quarrels, competition, disagreements, tolerance, or conservatism, patriarchy, selfishness... It's complicated, but when something happens to someone in the family, they are willing to sacrifice, love each other as if nothing had happened, and previous grudges also disappear. There are many good details in the movie, but the son's confession touched me the most: "Do you remember when and where was the last time you took a picture with your father? You should answer for yourself! As for me. I don't remember, or more precisely, I don't have one. I don't have a single picture of my father..." I choked up when I heard that line. The late tears! After twenty-one years of living with my father, I still haven't been able to do something that seemed so simple.

The day I left, my father saw me off with a smile and deep eyes that seemed to contain all the feelings inside. The day I returned, my father's smile had faded, his eyes of the past had now closed to look at eternity. At night, the sound of Phen ,my dog, barking rang out as he was startled by the sound of falling leaves gently touching the ground. Darkness covered the vast space. Looking into the void, I felt small, empty, and quietly picked up each memory to wrap up and weave a beautiful dream - a dream of always having my father by my side, so that I could fulfill the things I had left unfinished or the times I had broken promises to my father. The day my father passed away; the whole family had to rummage through my older siblings' wedding albums to find a photo of him, then asked a photo editor to make a memorial photo. My older siblings were probably luckier than me because, on their wedding day,  they got to take a photo with my father. As for me, there was no wedding day, instead it was my ordination day, and my father was no longer there to celebrate, to take a commemorative photo. I could only wrap up my dream of taking a photo with my dad in my sleep... but how could I?

We are so busy making money, traveling, and exploring different lands that when the doctor says our parents don't have much time left, we are shocked to realize that all we have left of our parents are pictures of us when we were young. When we grow up, because we are shy, none of our siblings want to take pictures with our parents. Our parents must be sad too? 

In the era of 4.0 technology, almost everyone owns a smartphone with a high-fidelity 360-degree camera to take photos and videos. In a moment, the images are shared on personal pages without the photographers or paying for the photos. Today's youngsters probably don't remember the old days, when if they wanted to take photos as souvenirs, even if they took them at a shop, they had to travel nearly ten kilometers to the photo shop. And when they got there, they couldn't take the photo right away, they had to wait their turn, the photographer finished taking the photo, gave them a small receipt the size of three fingers, and if they were lucky, they could come back and get it in two days, usually a week. Photographers were extremely impressive! I still remember seeing photographers coming to the village to take wedding photos was like seeing famous artists. 

Life is getting more and more modern, with just one touch of the touch screen, you can have the whole world in your hands. Your Facebook or Instagram is full of pictures of you and your lover, you and your best friends, you and your children having fun. Suddenly, rummaging on your phone, we only see pictures of ourselves going somewhere to play, eating and drinking. On holidays, weddings, we are absorbed in taking pictures of ourselves and choose beautiful pictures to post on Facebook to show off, but then forget that no one took pictures with our parents. One day, we are absent from our father, miss our mother and there are not many pictures left... We all have a Smartphone in our hands, and can take pictures anywhere, anytime, with friends, lovers, but have you ever wondered: How long has it been since my parents were in my pictures? 

My friend!... While we are still together, we must record beautiful photos and videos in our memories so that when we are apart, we will always remember each other. Don't wait until one day, when our parents are gone, we blame ourselves and sadly say "If only..."

Tâm Lực

Translated into English by Huynh Thi Minh Trang