Thang Nguyen 555

memories start flooding back:

• first time ever saw him, met him, greeted him : “ volleyball?” Ping pong was out of the question
• rode with him to/fro school (5 years), at times in girly posture due to post – terrorist restrictions
• grieved with him over lost nation, over mutual friend who had fled ahead of collapse and over all lost camaraderie
• “borrowing” his mansion to throw a party
• knowing he always knew who you were e.g. “bay dat” (put on a show), never stopped at red lights (make a right, then a left…keep moving)
• he liked what you quoted:” Life breaks all of us, but some of us get stronger in the broken places” (Hemingway)
• nursing a coffee alone in the corner of “factory” where we sat together on previous visit, knowing he was at that time in the hospital fighting for his life (imagining sharing a smoke – President brand, half-pack I had left behind ca phe 5 duong, while everything and everyone “thao chay” ran all at once)
• he was “the quiet Viet-Am” ever graced this Earth.

most unassuming guy I have ever met:

• rich kid (Q1) yet shared crammed space in the back row (ghetto XNL)
• southerner transferred from Ben Tre to a predominantly northerner school
• wouldn’t kill a fly, yet got attacked by a known gangster (Hai “chuot”), luckily, only tore off his scooter’s seat
• tall and with long arms, yet bad at volleyball, not as I had previously hoped when first introduced myself.

Life-long friends are hard to come about e.g. Fire and Rain by James Taylor:

“I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain
I seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I’d see you again “

This one – Phong – one of my great losses outside immediate family. Et si tu n’existais pas.

I cried 51 years ago. My niece asked if it had been because of my dad, who stayed behind. My reply: “No, TiTi, it’s my friend whom we had just bid goodbye a few hours previous on the way here – the river”.

Today, that fear of permanent separation finally materialized at the morgue. Last time, he stayed, and I left. This time, it’s the other way around.

R.I.P. Phong. Thoa and I cried all morning over the news of your sudden passing . Heck with being near 70. Because of you. I ‘ve become better i.e. human with humility and humor. Last watching you play a game of ping pong warmed my heart. Never wanted it to end.

I don’t know about y’all. This is the first time I understood Phileo (brotherly love), as much as a man can love another male friend of 58 years.

We used to listen to Steely Dan on his Akai, away from the hot sun in 36 Mac Dinh Chi garage-turned-hang-out den.

Do It Again, Do It Again and again, with friends like him.

Hi, Thang day, “Ban ten gi”. Volleyball? Ping Pong is out (only 2 tables).