Thang Nguyen 555

Maybe Koa weighed about 4 plus pounds. But we knew he got my friend’s genes. Even the resemblance in those eyes.

Crying eyes of my friend’s sister flying in from Canada to attend her younger brother’s funeral.

Phung, Phi, Phong and Phat. Of the 4 P’s, only Phi is left with memories of a larger family, of a house they had left behind (last known house I myself visited on my way out) and of upcoming anniversary before all is forgotten.

Only Koa will grow up, with nothing except what’s written in history (approved) books.

Nam, the Vietnam War, the last day of Saigon, grandpa’s escape, father’s childhood in Michigan, Florida and finally Laguna Hills.

Vaguely, even to Koa’s father, much less him.

He is an American-born, brought up and brimming with hope, dreams and justice in the American way. California dreaming, all the leaves are brown (and the sky is less grey now that gas is expensive, with less pollutant).

No dioxin, no defoliant. No lawsuit, no regrets of a past to be forgotten. Only hope and higher standards of living.

Quality over quantity. Let’s not count the numbers. We are already at 8+Billion bodies on Earth, with a bunch of Trillionaires. Quality.

Beltways, freeways, tollways, and sideways.

First time I got negative feedback at the mention of “Et si tu n’existais pas” (xua roi). People now go for the latest, or latest interpretation of Odyssey.

The classics? Who cares, not in the age of TikTok (used to be MTV, then YouTube, then Zoom, then Zelle).

I gave up, except for holding that child, grandchild of my friend. One in my arm, the other in the open coffin. One about 4 lbs., the other soon weighed much less after going through the 1800 degrees F oven.

What is life that soon must pass! legacy? love? lust? fading memories? camaraderie? one-upmanship? latest fashion and fad? ideologies and phenomena? clothes that don’t fit or out of fashion?

Classic or cut-off jeans! I pick bell-bottom jeans. Jeans my friends wore in middle school, given they were tall, innocent and bursting with hope.

That someday, we would become someone, would bring values and contribute to country, to repay our teachers and fathers, be loyal to our friends and our flags.

Heck. We fell short, and we knew it.

Now, we settle for much less: heart rates and interest rates. That’s all folks! Like the end of Disney’s Looney tune. Gone and forgotten.

Dust come to dust. Except for the likes of Koas. Grandsons of friends. New Americans, luckily in one case, with a surviving aunt from a family of 4, from district 1 to Canada, down onto Michigan, Florida then Laguna.

Koa, may you grow up with all the amenities and accessories. But never forget, everything comes with a price. Even Empire. Then everything would soon be gone and forgotten. Even Empire.

P.S. Just listened to “Dem Dai” by Trung Cang, sang by Elvis Phuong. quite chilling and goosebumps raising.