We have been discussing where to move since putting our house on the market a few months ago. Each time we talk about it, A tells us he wants to live in Viet Nam. I am becoming increasingly unnerved by the recurrent request. We have explained that since we are unable to speak the language it would be impossible for mommy and daddy to work in Vietnam. He insists we can learn the language.
While it is no secret how much we love Vietnam, I am spending more time questioning our reason for not moving there. Why not sell our home and most of our possessions and give this to our son? Why not try something new? Why not experience the food, the culture, the people in a way we will never be able to just by visiting?
My heart has longed to return to Vietnam for four years. I have hungered to taste the dragonfruit, the durian and the <em>real</em><em></em> nuoc cham again. I would love to see the beautiful landscape of the Mekong Delta everyday, to have my soul filled with the sounds of motor bikes honking and the smells of pho being prepared and served on the city streets. I would give anything to be able hear the language spoken often enough to begin to understand their words. I long to know more of the people who despite generations of chaos, war, poverty and foreign invasion of their homeland continue to approach each day, the world and others with an infectious joy and hope.
My heart longs to understand why A has been so consistent with this request. Is he trying to tell me something more? He knows so little of Vietnam and sadness fills me when I think of how little of Vietnam and it's culture, people and traditions he will be able to experience just by visiting. We took him away from all of these things. On the other hand would all of these things feel so special about Vietnam if we lived it each day? Must it be something we only experience from time to time to preserve such special memories?
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