24 1 / 2012
My dad’s age.
My dad’s mom died a few months after giving birth to him. Since it was during the war, no one ever kept track of my dad’s birth date. Gramps just told him he was the year of the dog. Which should have meant that he was born in 1948. He grew up thinking he was the year of the dog. In vietnamese culture this is a big deal because ur zodiac determines your faith..love conpatability, luck, etc.
During my last month in Vietnam, i visited my dad’s birth spot in Sa Dec where his eldest brother still lives. Damn, dad was in the cuts. Rice fields and errthang. Anyway, grandma’s tomb was built right in front of the house so i lit incenses and took a picture. However, i was confused because it said that she died in 1947. I showed it to dad when i came home and since then he has been trying to figure out his zodiac.
“Im not a dog???”
We still arent sure what’s his sign because we dont know how many months it was that dad got to be with grandma before she died. Also it depends when the first day of the lunar year was that year. It’s funny because my mom is hella annoyed and tells him to get over it.
But damn, what if i thought i was snake all my life and then i realize im a..mouse. ha.
