Nguyet T. Nguyen

Mom was born on June 21, 1933, in Hanoi, Vietnam, and is the eldest sister in a

large family. Our Grandma died early in the year of the Rooster in 1945, so Mom

shouldered the responsibility of caring for her younger siblings. Mom lived a

simple life, preferring pure Northern cuisine, and was referred to as "my lady," "my

princess," etc., when Grandpa was the Court's Chief Judge in Vinh Yen Province,

Vietnam. In August 1945, the Viet Minh captured 8 northern provinces, including

Vinh Yen, and Grandpa was obliged to follow the Viet Minh. The life of "Ms.

Nguyet" changed drastically. Mom's social status changed as the political climate

changed, and her father's position in the city changed. She recounts her family's

journey of escaping a communist regime, in which she played a key role in the

family's successful move. Following Grandpa's lead, the family walked from Vinh

Yen to Hanoi. She recalls carrying a basket on her shoulders, one filled with rice

and the other with a pot. Our Grandma carried our aunt Yen, and Mom cared for

her brother Nam and sometimes put him in the basket because he was tired and

could not walk. During the day, the group had to avoid French planes and seek

shelter in any temple along the road at night. Grandpa probably predicted the

peaceful land was South Vietnam, so he named his first five children Nguyet Nhat

An Nam Viet. (literally, translate to Moon, Sun, Peace, South, Viet) The

significance of these names, given by Grandpa, is a story that piques curiosity and

shows his deference to the homeland he loves.

Mom married Dad in 1953. At her in-law's jewelry store, she learned the jeweler's

skills. In 1954, when the Geneva Treaty divided the country in half, Mom followed

the family of Uncle Lang, Dad's eldest brother, to Saigon. Dad graduated from the

Thu Duc Reserve Officer School in the same year, and both started building their

lives from scratch. Because Mom had no children, Mom cared for our cousin

Trieu, Dad's niece. In 1955, Mom went to Ban Me Thuot with Dad; in 1956, her first

son was named Duc to connect the two surnames, Nguyen Nhu and Nguyen Duc.

Two years later, Mom had her first daughter, Hoa, when Dad had just returned

from training in the United States. About a year later, Mom carried our "big"

brother because Tri weighed more than four kilograms at birth. Thanks to her

natural, skillful hands and good math, Mom attended the ao dai sewing class at

the famous school at the corner of the old Cao Thang and Phan Dinh Phung

streets. In the year of the buffalo, Mom gave birth to Dung, and Dung drank the

most breast milk among the children. With four small children and tight finances,

Mom opened a "Thien Huong" ao dai tailoring shop on the old Tran Quoc Toan

Street. As the only tailor, Mom could not make the "ao dai" on time for her clients

and finally closed the shop. By the year of the cat, Mom had a second daughter,

Dung, and at this time, the family had moved back to Nguyen Trung Truc's

military quarter, strung inside, so they did not have to smell the rotten fish of Tran

Quoc Toan fish market. Mom's one-week stay in the hospital was the week when

the children could eat many delicious meals at the restaurant because Dad was a

not-so-good cook.

The Vietnam War escalated when the US government sent more troops over,

followed by units that provided everything from food to daily supplies to the PX,

the US military's supermarket. Mom started trading in American goods. Mom

practiced driving and then bought a small Toyota truck to carry goods. Every day,

Mom made runs to Bien Hoa or Thu Duc. Gentle, honest, and upright, Mom was

loved by many business associates. The following typical story tells about her

character and compass in life of never taking advantage of people: a seller in Bien

Hoa bought a 13-inch TV from a GI, and after bringing it home to try to turn it on,

the screen projected a line in the middle. This woman thought the TV had broken

down, so she sold it cheaply to Mom. Knowing that her eldest son often repairs

machinery in the house, Mom asks him to fix what he could of the broken TV. Duc

used a screwdriver to mess with the buttons behind the TV, and voila! - the TV

had pictures again. Mom keeps this TV at home to watch. But she did not stop

there. When she saw her Bien Hoa friend again, Mom informed her friend that the

TV was not broken, so she offered to pay more. For Mom, the word "trust" comes

first. Since then, friends in the Bien Hoa area have cherished Mom and her honest

deeds. Mom usually ordered needed merchandise in advance, and her Bien Hoa

sellers always kept the goods for her even though someone else offered higher

prices.

Many soldiers' families also liked Mom's congenial personality and offered

neighborly help throughout our years in the military neighborhood. Mrs. Toan,

the neighbor right at the front door, often cared for Huong, Mom's third daughter,

every time Mom had to leave the house to take care of business. Ms. Toan has a

daughter the same age as Huong, so Mrs. Toan sometimes feeds Huong her milk.

Ms. Toan's family and our family have kept in touch with each other over the years.

Dad hoped to have the youngest son; he thought it would be Vu because Mom

conceived Huong in Hue, so the name of the famous poetic river is for "baby"

Huong.

One of Mom's proudest days was seeing off her eldest son at the airport to study

abroad in the US. She hoped her younger children would follow the same path and

study successfully. Mom rarely expresses her affection outwardly, but we all know

her love for us is vast; the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans combined can't contain it.

Every time the children visit, the first sentence is "Have rice with ...., eat with

Mom...". Duc, Hoa, Tri, and Mr. Giang, Uncle Nghi's son, had lunch cooked by

Mom every day when he was a student at Cal Poly. Tri's friend asked, "Does your

mom cook at restaurants? It smells so delicious." Mom often gave out extra bags of

rice to bring home when our friends came to eat.

In April 1975, Mom left everything in Saigon like hundreds of thousands of people

who wanted freedom. Dad had a wonderful boss, Mr Loc "Giao Chi." He arranged

and added names to the evacuated list, so Mom and five children went to the

airport to evacuate. Dad stayed with Mr Loc until the last minute and climbed a

landing boat with Uncle Hung and Tien. Stuck in Rach Gia was our uncle Thu, in

Tan Chau, was uncle An, and in Saigon were uncle Nhat and Grandpa.

Aunt Yen has been in Chino, California, since 1972, so she sponsored our family

and her two brothers. After more than a month of vacationing in Fort Chaffey

refugee camp, Arkansas, Mom was worried about her children's education because

she didn't know how and where they would go to school. Aunt Yen helped rent a

small two-bedroom house in Pomona. Mom and Dad worked in the same

department and saved up to buy a three-room house with a small garden. The

small garden made her happy and, at the same time, helped her earn a little more

money. In this garden, Mom grew herbs such as spinach, cinnamon, perilla, and

marjoram and then cut and sold them to markets around Pomona and Los Angeles

Chinatown every weekend. Later, when moving to the house in Montclair, Mom

planted persimmons and many fruit trees. In the "Hong" season, Mom's garden

became the Persimmon Harvest Festival in weeks when uncles, aunts, uncles,

children, and grandchildren gather here to pick persimmons, guava, or other

fruits.

Mom somehow got hold of the gac seeds. Only two years later, the gac trees were

full of flowers. From a young age, Mom learned to distinguish between "male" and

"female" flowers. Every day, Mom went to the garden to pollinate the flowers

manually. As a result, Mom has a new business. Aunt Van sells gac to the market

for Mom.

Mom turned to sewing blankets and pillows for many small shops in the Orange

County area. Tri and Dad became Mom's delivery drivers. From here, her

grandchildren, Nichelle, Christine, Jasmine, Petrus, Carissa, Melanie, Hannah,

Halli, and Cassidy, had Grandma's blankets. Now, Nichelle still has a little blanket

cloth. Mom sews ao dai for Buddhist children in Phap Van Pagoda. Mom likes to

buy beautiful fabrics and sell them to many tailors in Little Saigon. Mom's famous

customers included fashion designers in the Vietnamese show business.

Mom rarely flew out of the United States, but she would immediately go if we

needed her. Mom returned to Vietnam to attend her brother Tien and son Dung's

weddings. It was harder to receive a little girl, Cassidy, at the Da Nang orphanage

in central Vietnam. Mom also often flew to San Francisco to celebrate Halli's

birthday. In 2004, at the annual family ski gathering at Big Bear, Mom looked after

Halli when Halli was only a few months old after Dung received Halli from an

orphanage in Hoa Binh, north Vietnam. Halli is going to graduate from College,

and Cassidy is attending College. Now, both grandchildren have gone to school far

from home.

Her grandchildren, Julian and Bennet, made posters at school to talk about

Grandma. On the poster is a photo of the same Toyota truck as Mom's in Saigon.

Since the past day, Mom has always driven a stick-shift car and has never used a

car with an automatic transmission.

Although far away, Liam and Lea's grandchildren still visit Mom during Tet. My

Mom often reminds the two grandchildren every time the family gathers to eat.

Mom was generous and forgiving to Dad until Dad passed away. The children

discovered that Dad had Loan, his youngest daughter, when stationed in Da Nang.

After spending a few weeks searching for Loan, we were lucky to welcome our

youngest sister into the family.

Exactly four years ago, Mom took good care of Dad's burial. Now, Mom will

peacefully meet Dad again in the afterlife.

The children, grandchildren, and two baby-great-grandchildren, Lily and Lyla, are

proud to carry the tolerant, generous, and compassionate characters of Mom,

Grandma, and Great-Grandma in their genes. Wherever we go, we will forever

keep the image of Mom's love in our hearts. We love you very much.

Services will be held on December 21, 2024 at Draper Mortuary, 811 N. Mountain Ave., Ontario, CA 91762. Private family prayers will begin at 10:00 am, followed by viewing from 12:00 am until 4:00 pm.

Graveside service will be held on January 6, 2025 at Forest Park Lawndale, 6900 Lawndale Street, Houston, Texas 77023, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm noon local time.

In lieu of flowers, the family wishes that memorial contributions be made in Nguyệt Thị Nguyễn’s name to Pháp Vân Temple, 850 W Phillips Blvd, Pomona, CA 91766.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Draper-Mortuary.com for the Nguyen family.