Mimi’s speech

It is my honor today to talk about our special Grandma, she passed away on Sept 6th, 2012 peacefully. I personally was fortunate to see her the very last time when she was still alert and she acknowledged my presence by a small squeeze on my hand. She is survived by her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
On behalf of our family I would like to extend our sincere thank you to everyone present here today to say the final good bye to our dear beloved grandmother, mother Mrs. Nguyen Dinh Trai.

We are mourning for her pass away but at the same time we are here to celebrate her life long as an extraordinary woman.

I am her first grandchild and I am lucky and fortunate to spend the most time and have the most memories about her. In the past week, all the memories with her flooded me.

I spent most of my childhood by her side. She is a woman of great strength, she grew up in an era of war, had survived many obstacles, migrated from Northern Vietnam to Southern Vietnam and once again at old age migrated to a foreign land, the US. As a widow, and with not much education she had raised my dad, uncles and aunts and inspire in them the importance of education and family values. Without her many of us would not have the success we have today.

I do not know my grandfather at all, but through her she had always reminded me of him and I always remember her inspiring words about my grandfather. She always said “Grandpa always wished you were old enough for him to carry you on the back of his bicycle”. She always made sure I would not forget where I came from and the values she instilled in me.

She lived her life with dignity, grace and tremendous love for her children and grandchildren. From the very early days she always taught me the karma of buddhism with emphasis on compassion, forgiveness, being humble and always plant the good seeds for your children /grandchildren. She always remind me that regardless of whatever obstacles our Nguyen clan must always live in unity and loving and caring for each other, and we must always make her proud of that. I remember vividly all the memories with her when I was a young child, the morning routine of going to the market with her, nightly ritual reading of the buddhist scriptures and many many visits with her to the pagoda.I can still relive all the memories as a young child in VN, coming home from school and Grandma is there waiting and always have my favorite snack ready.

As I grew up and moved away and have my own family, but Grandma ‘s presence is in me everyday. Though with the stressful of daily life, we don’t talk daily but her inspiration instilled in my teaching for my children.

My grandma lived a very simple life, her utmost love is for her family, her children and grandchildren. She was always my strongest supporter throughout my childhood. She was always there for all my success and failures. She had never missed any award ceremony or any single recital or performance of mine and always my biggest cheer. Not too long ago, only a few weeks ago, she was still cheering to see my daughter playing the piano on youtube and said Sophie reminded her so much of me. And I know she is always proud of my accomplishment. And we are proud of her and her life long devotion to us.

These are just very few memories that I would like to share about my Grandma today, and I am sure everyone here today has known her and she had touched your life in a specific way. I know my grandma is resting in peace now and smiling at us to see we are here to celebrate her life and promise to continue our lives with dignity and principles she had taught us. We all love her very much and I know wherever she is, she is always watching over us and her legacy continues to live in us everyday.

I once again on behalf of our extended family to thank you everyone ‘s presence here today.

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Bà đã sống y hệt như lời Phật dậy

Robin Mai Anh Nguyễn

(Nguyên văn tiếng Anh. Bản dịch Việt ngữ của chú Trần Đình Khoa.)

Cháu xin phép được diễn tả cảm nghĩ về Bà Nội của cháu, Bà Nguyễn Thị Lễ. Hôm nay mọi người đến đây không phải chỉ là để thương tiếc về một sự mất mát, mà còn là một dịp để tưởng nhớ đến một người suốt đời tận tụy lo lắng cho gia đình với tình yêu thương vô bờ bến, và một lòng tin kiên cố nơi Tam Bảo. Bà nội của cháu đã ra đi thanh thản ngày 6 tháng 9 năm 2012, hưởng thọ 88 tuổi .

Cháu không thể nào biết được bà lúc bà còn trẻ, nhưng căn cứ vào sự nuôi nấng bố cháu, các chú, các cô nên người đã là bằng chứng hiển nhiên rằng bà rất có tài đức và là một người mẹ tuyệt vời.

Bà đã tận tụy chăm sóc gia đình và có niềm tin vững chắc nơi Đức Phật. Cháu còn nhớ rõ lắm lúc cháu mới chừng 5, 6 tuổi nhưng bà đã dắt cháu đi chùa. Bà kiên nhẫn dạy cháu đọc kinh và hiểu những lễ nghi. Khi đến Mỹ, đó là thời gian khó khăn đối với bà vì sống trên xứ lạ, lại khác ngôn ngữ. Nhưng bà vẫn là người đứng chờ cháu trước cổng trường khi tan học. Bà đã kiên nhẫn đứng chờ cháu khi cháu vẫn mãi lang thang trò chuyện với bạn bè sau hồi chuông tan học. Rồi cuộc sống và thời gian thay đổi, cộng thêm sự khác biệt ngôn ngữ, bà cháu ít có dịp nói chuyện thân mật như ngày xưa, nhưng tình yêu thương của bà dành cho cháu thì không hề sút giảm.

Cháu còn nhớ rất rõ thời gian bà cháu mình cùng xem phim bộ và tuồng cải lương bằng tiếng Việt. Bà khen cháu hát cải lương hay lúc cháu còn quá bé, chỉ tập nhái theo tuồng. Được bà khen, cháu thấy ngượng quá nhưng bà lại rất hãnh diện vì tài ca cải lương của cháu. Mỗi khi Tết đến, bà chạy đôn đáo sắm sửa đủ thứ mứt và hoa quả. Mặc dầu quá bận rộn nhưng bà luôn tỏ vẻ vui sướng và hết lòng làm xong mọi việc.

Thời gian trôi qua đã giúp bà sống thoải mái hơn trên đất Mỹ. Khi cháu vào Đại học, cháu ít có dịp gặp bà nhưng bà không hề phiền trách cháu. Bà vẫn mừng rỡ gặp lại cháu dù trong ít phút ngắn ngủi, hoặc thỉnh thoảng mới được gặp nhau. Cháu vẫn nhớ nhiều lần cháu chở bà đi vòng quanh bờ biển, chỉ là chạy lang thang không định đi đến chỗ nào. Có lúc bà và cháu đi bộ trên bãi biển, nhặt những viên sỏi tròn trịa, hay cùng ghé ăn kem ở những quán nhỏ dọc theo bờ biển. Cháu không biết bà có thực sự thích cảnh biển hay không, nhưng cháu chắc chắn rằng bà đã rất vui khi bà cháu mình cùng đi chơi với nhau. Cháu cũng rất vui khi bà có đủ sức khỏe để dự trọn vẹn đám cưới của cháu chỉ mới mấy tháng trước đây vào ngày Mother’s Day. Hôm ấy cháu đã được vinh dự đem bó hoa thật đẹp đến tặng Bà ngay tại bàn tiệc.

Vừa qua cháu đã kể lại những kỷ niệm tuyệt vời với bà, cháu nguyện sẽ giữ mãi trong tâm. Bà là người tốt bụng, tận tụy, và đáng yêu mà cháu chưa từng tìm thấy những đức tính ấy nơi người khác. Cháu xin mượn lời Phật dạy rằng: “Sự chết không phải là điều đáng sợ đối với người sống đạo hạnh và có trí tuệ” .

Bà đã sống y hệt như lời Phật dậy. Thân xác bà sẽ không còn nữa, nhưng bà vẫn sống mãi trong tim mọi người .

Bà ơi! Chúng cháu yêu bà vô cùng! Chúng cháu buồn vì không còn có bà bên cạnh, nhưng không khỏi mừng cho bà đang ở một cảnh giới tốt đẹp hơn, không còn phải đau đớn chịu đựng vì bệnh tật của tuổi già.

Xin bà hãy phù hộ cho chúng cháu như bà vẫn thường chăm sóc, và hướng dẫn các cháu để sống một đời hoàn thiện như chính bà đã làm.

Robin’s speech

Today we are here not to mourn the loss of my grandma, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Le. Today we are here to honor and remember the wonderful life she had led, and her undying devotion and love to her family and faith. At the age of 88, my grandma passed away peacefully on Sept 6, 2012. She is survived by her children, grand children, and great grand children, all who have traveled far and wide to be here today. On behalf of all her grandchildren and great grand children, I am here to say a few words but I know that words would not do justice for all the positive influences and impact she has left behind.

Although I only know her in the capacity of my grandma and did not get to know her when she was much younger, but if the upbringing of my dad, my aunts, and uncles is any testament to her skills as the matriach of the family, then it is without doubts that she was a talented and wonderful woman. Almost single-handedly she has raised her children in a war torn time, but managed yet to instill the importance of education, and service to others. This has transpired across generations to impact me, my cousins, and my niece and nephew.

Her devotion and love to her family is unparalleled and only rivals that of her faith in Buddha. I can still remember so vividly the trips we often take to the temple back in Viet Nam. Though I was but five or six years old and did not understand anything about buddhism, it was my grandma in her eternal patience who would try to explain to me the scriptures and rituals. When we emigated to the US, I knew it was a difficult time for her, being in a foreign country, not understanding the language that she never had the need to learn. Still, she would be the one who would often be at the school’s gates when school was over. She was the one who would wait patiently while I dallied around with my friends long after the bell has rung. As life would have it, time and language barrier slowly wedged the time we would spend together. Still, she never wavered in her love and patience.

I can still remember distinctly the long hours we would spend watching chinese soap operas as well as vietnamese soap operas, “cai luong”. She often would comment on her memories of me singing “cai luong” when i was much younger. Of course as what any teenager would feel at that time, I was embarrassed by it and she was proud. When New Years would roll around, I remember all the hubbub that comes about with all the necessary preparations. My grandma was very meticulous when it comes to things like that. We would have to go to the right store to get the right kind of preserved fruits or “Muc” and get the correct number of flowers on the chrysanthemum plant. Despite all the hecticness, I really enjoyed seeing her so happy and devoted to such a task. I often times think it helps her feel more at home in the US. When I started college, my time with her diminished greatly. Yet, she never uttered a word of complaint.

She would just simply enjoy the time we would spend together, regardless of duration or frequency. I remember the times when I would pick her up and we both would just go for a ride down pacific coast hwy without any real destination or a care in the world. Sometimes we would stop along the road and walk along the beach, other times we would just simply let the window down and let in the cool salty ocean breeze. I didn’t know if she really liked being at the beach or seeing the ocean, but I was sure she enjoyed our time together. We probably have discovered many hidden gems and awesome ice cream shops along our ventures down PCH. I am so happy that she was able to attend my wedding a few months ago, on Mother’s Day. I had the honor to present her a beautiful flower bouquet at her table.

These are the few among the many wonderful memories I treasure and remember when I think about my grandma. She was one of the most kindest, devoted, loving person I have ever known. I am sure that everyone here today has their own wonderful memories of my grandma and I want each of you to hold on to that and celebrate her life. To borrow from one of Buddha’s teachings, “Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely”, and my grandma did just that. Though she is no longer here with us physically, she is here within our hearts and our memories. Let us today celebrate the wonderful life she led, to remember her accomplishments, and to treasure our memories of her.

Grandma, we all love you very much. We are sad that you are no longer here with us, but happy that you are now in a better place, free of any pain and suffering. Watch over us as you have always done, and help guide us to live a fulfilling life as you have led.