Ranh, 87 — Love, Loss & Fatherhood

“My wife died a long time ago, in 1973. She passed near here. Dur­ing the war (Viet­nam-Amer­i­can), she was col­lect­ing plas­tic bot­tles to sell to raise our kids. But one day, she was killed by a land mine.”

“I was in prison from 1965 to 1973 because I fought against the Amer­i­cans. It was in Con Dao, Con Son, and Phu Quoc island (pris­ons dur­ing the war).”

“I nev­er got mar­ried again. I miss my wife. If I get mar­ried to anoth­er woman, I am not sure that woman will love my kids. I am not sure if she will treat my kids and her kids the same.”

“When I was 20 years old, I often took her on a date. We got mar­ried when we were 25 years old. We had 4 chil­dren togeth­er, 2 sons and 2 daugh­ters. Now I have great-grand­chil­dren. I am 87 years old.”

“I miss my wife. I still have her picture.”

Ranh, 87 years old
Hoi An, Vietnam