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Author Topic: Tawg paj tshiab rau hauv Vib Nais  (Read 2575 times)

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nooneever

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Tawg paj tshiab rau hauv Vib Nais
« on: January 25, 2017, 03:33:22 PM »
My father did not wake up one day.  He lost his hearing because of all the anti-aircraft machinery he operated during the war, his vision had been slipping, and his overall health had been deteriorating.

In this patriarchal society, not having a father meant you were a second class citizen.  It was already a tragic world we lived in.  We lost our homes and everything we had worked so hard on for many years.  Food, although it may already be scarce depending on the season, was rationed.  Of course there were different classes of poverty and those that curried to the higher classes received more.  Even peons and plebeians can wear crowns and titles.

At night I look for river snails to satiate my hunger.  While waiting silently I sometimes think about what good can come from living such a desolate life.  I wish I had what others took for granted, but I find comfort in being able to live another day and seeing my mother smile.

While walking past another family I say hello to the parents and avoid making eye contact with their daughter.  We both knew each other, but her parents would never let her marry someone like me.  I did not want to embarrass her in front of her parents.  As we parted ways I turned around one last time and I saw that she looked back at me as well.

In a land forgotten by the rest of the world flowers were blossoming in the refugee camps. 



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Offline Gucci K

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Re: Tawg paj tshiab rau hauv Vib Nais
« Reply #1 on: January 26, 2017, 10:48:34 AM »
nooneever forgets vib nais!  here's a dedication: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u1Wck5zUTA



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wb Zaj Dab Neeg xaus lawm...

nooneever

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Re: Tawg paj tshiab rau hauv Vib Nais
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2017, 08:10:55 AM »
Lol I wrote this in the perspective of my father after reflecting on all the stories he told me growing up.



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Offline Gucci K

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Re: Tawg paj tshiab rau hauv Vib Nais
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2017, 08:41:50 AM »
Your not that old to remember  Vinai  silly. I hardly remember  anything thete.
oh, i remember vibnais...i was running naked most of the time, my boogers were sideways, i fell into pas npawv and survived...alm ost ever other night/day, you can hear the death drums beating for young children. 

we lived in a hut that was on stilts and this menacing kid (a few years older and known bully of kej 1) would go underneath and poke us. if he wasn't messing with us, he was bullying some other children around the camp.  i had my first fight with him, of course i didn't know how to fight but somehow in the scuffle, i was able to get on top...i also didn't know how to hit, so I held onto his ears and pounded his head (he bled and cried, I felt bad for it)...after that, I was king of kej 1, my gang was called "mi nyuam kas tsaub" (at least that was what the old folks called us).   >:D ;D

we would run rampant in the camps, threw rocks at security guards (a wausau) because they were just mean to our hmong people, stole sugar from the ration trucks that brought food once a week.  got shot at by troopers, while rummaging through the forced abandon huts of the laotion immigrants (i was too fast for them bullets, i can recall the bullets hitting the side of my foot).  went to school and if we were late, the teachers would whoop our a$$es, i mean literally, she would make us stand against the chalk board and take the ruler to town...and let me tell you, it ain't no love tap, you're either crying or yelping afterward.  one time, she whipped my brother so hard, the ruler broke, i immediately attacked the teacher and about of 4 of us, mi nyuam kas tsaub, jumped in to give a beat down...we ditched school that day, went to ride banana trees down the hill and swim at pas npawv.

last but not least, nooneever ever forgets their first love, that doctor's daughter...she was the admiration of the neighborhood kids, even though I was king, she was twice popular.  her family was well to do, we weren't so fortunate.  luck would have it that she liked me too, i did almost anything for her, picked wild flowers, shared my candies and carried her over puddles.  i remember it quite clearly, it was a gloomy day with slight rain shower.  this was my last day before we were to board the bus to amelikas, knowing we would part, she brought an egg to share with me as we sat in the hut for one final time, just listening to the rhythm of the falling rain.  of course, there was no tears or sad good byes but well wishes.

I was merely a little kid, no more than 4-5 years old but my life experience in vibnais, in that short amount of time of 3 months was probably my best childhood memories! 



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wb Zaj Dab Neeg xaus lawm...

nooneever

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Re: Tawg paj tshiab rau hauv Vib Nais
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2017, 03:27:44 PM »
Yog li ces kuv quaj a river for koj txiv.

P.S. that girl that he thought was too good for him... What happened to her?
I now call her mom and we celebrated her 50th birthday a month ago. =)



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Offline Mrs.Vang

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Re: Tawg paj tshiab rau hauv Vib Nais
« Reply #5 on: May 21, 2017, 09:55:29 PM »
Please do continue with your parents' story.  Very interesting, indeed.

And thank you for sharing.



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"Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty - they merely move it from their faces into their hearts."<br /><br />

 

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