"No matter how much money you earn, you can earn it back, but the time you spend with your mother is not," Nguyen Trong Luan (28 years old, Da Nang) thought to himself. He always considered that as a "guiding principle" in life. Especially after his father became seriously ill and passed away, he cherished the moments with his family even more.
This past summer, this young man took his mother on a month-long trip to the US. With the help of a friend who studied with him in the US, Trong Luan and his friend drove his mother around many places, from the West Coast to the East Coast, from Los Angeles to New York. They visited famous places like the White House and Times Square.
Before the trip, Trong Luan had planned a detailed itinerary to visit many places while ensuring personal work and optimizing costs. Deep in the young man's mind, he knew this trip was important to both mother and son.
Because America is the country that his parents often watch on Hollywood movies on TV. On this trip, he took his mother to the country where he studied, visited his old school, and showed her the lawn where he often sat alone to study.
This trip is an opportunity for him to fulfill his father's promise to his mother. He confided: "When my father was alive, he promised that one day he would take my mother on a trip around the world, taking her to America to visit relatives and friends. My father passed away early. Therefore, now I work hard and save money to fulfill my father's promise."
In Luan's memory, his parents had to go through many hardships in the post-war period to raise three children. After her husband died, his mother had become withdrawn. Now, she has changed her mind. She wants to go to places that the couple had not been to so that she can tell her late spouse about them.
Before the trip to the US, the filial son took his mother to many places such as Korea, Thailand and Taiwan (China) as well as to explore some provinces in the country. On each trip, his mother often "told" her late partner what they ate, where they went, and who they met as an old habit.
"For 8 years, my mother still texted my father every day, even though she never received a reply. She told him everything that happened that day and how much she missed him," Trong Luan shared.
During his recent trip to the land of the free, he remembered most the moment he and his mother watched the ocean in San Diego. Holding her hand tightly and looking out to sea, he couldn't help but be moved by her words: "I wish my dad were here."
Trong Luan's story "Replacing Dad to fulfill his promise to take Mom to travel the world" has received tens of thousands of views on social networks and many compliments for his filial piety. In the near future, the 9X guy hopes to be able to arrange his time and make efforts to earn money to take his mother to many more places.
