Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet, 73 years old, lives in a house of only about 5 square meters in a small alley in the capital Hanoi.
Carrying the four mouths alone, although her life is difficult, she always told herself that her life is like a novel with many sad chapters, but then there will come a beautiful ending - where the children grow up and mature.
For her, those are worthy sweet fruits from her journey of silent sacrifice.
The "three-sinking, seven-floating" life of a retired teacher
In the middle of lane 241 De La Thanh, the 5m2 house is the home of three generations in Mrs. Pham Thi Tuyet's family.
That cramped place was her home, the son who had a heart attack and her two grandchildren.
The living space is made the most of: the first floor is both her small grocery store, a cooking and living space, to the point that sometimes family members have to wait for each other to get by.
The second floor was the sleeping place of her and her granddaughter. The third floor is for the son and grandson. The fourth and fifth floors were filled with old furniture. The wooden stairs were upright, just enough for one person to climb up.
This place was just an old kitchen left by her mother-in-law. From two temporary floors, her husband, while still alive, expanded to 5 "mini" floors.
People in the alley still jokingly call it "the tallest house". Everyone in the neighborhood affectionates and admires Ms. Tuyet for her gentleness and promptness.
She opened a small grocery store, not having a day off all year round, even on the first day of Tet. Many nights late at night, when customers call, she still opens the store.
Ms. Tuyet's life is a series of events. She was a lecturer at the University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
The tragedy came when her husband, while driving a car carrying corrugated iron, suddenly broke the corrugated iron and fell down, injuring 6 people. The family had to pick up 4 people to take home to take care of them, compensate for 2 people with minor injuries, and finally the couple had to sell the whole house to take care of them.
But all is still nothing compared to the biggest shock of her life. Her husband was diagnosed with lung cancer. After 3 years of caring for her husband for chemotherapy, her money "broke off", until her husband passed away in 2020, she was mentally devastated.
The tragedy continued when the son working as a bank driver suddenly had a heart attack, and the daughter-in-law left without saying goodbye.
Ms. Tuyet put away her tears, calmly carrying four mouths worth a pension of 7 million VND and carrying small groceries. Facing many hardships, she still maintains a simple belief: " Having health is having everything". Because only when she was still standing firm could she be a support for her grandchildren and son.
The biggest dream of my life
Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet shared that over the years, she has been both a mother and a father, and also a grandfather role, even a "sin" in her own small house.
Her two grandchildren - Nguyen Trung Hieu (born in 2005) and Nguyen Thi Huyen Trang (born in 2007) - are the source of life, the motivation to help her overcome difficult days.
Every time she mentioned her grandchildren, Ms. Tuyet's eyes lit up with pride.
She praised Hieu for being yielding, studying carefully and always being thoughtful. Hieu is currently a third-year student majoring in Information Technology, having received a scholarship. Huyen Trang's niece is also very understanding and knows how to help her.
In a small house of only a few square meters, Ms. Tuyet's love and expectations are greater than anything else. She said: "Up to now, my wish has been fulfilled 70%. I just hope you are healthy. Because having health is everything.
I hope that when I grow up, my child will have a stable job and a strong position in society. I am old in the future, I cannot take care of everything, so I just hope that my grandchild will be able to take care of the whole family in a warm and prosperous time. I also hope the youngest child has a bright future.
The retired teacher always told herself: "In this life, there are many people who are more difficult than me". That is why, when her nephew received a scholarship to support him when he entered college from an unnamed benefactor, she was very moved.
When her grandchild passed the university entrance exam and her life gradually became more stable, she did not hesitate to proactively contact to ask to stop receiving help. She wanted to give that precious opportunity to the more difficult lives.
Currently, Ms. Tuyet's family is under consideration for resettlement. She hopes to give her family more space to live in, and the children will also confidently invite friends to visit without being shy because of the limited space.
