wasn’t disappearing; however, every time I thought about her or dad or Reverend Fox or their relationship, my mind went blank and my body went numb.
After the funeral when I brought the urn home, she looked at me with daggers in her eyes.
“Get that thing out of my house. Why did you think I wanted him buried? I wanted him out of this house for good.”
I didn’t say anything about the cremation or Vietnam or my intended trip. I just took the urn into my room and hid it out of sight.
Three days after the funeral I went to AAA to look into flights to Vietnam. I told the travel agent I needed to go to ‘Tie Win’ and after she looked up a few things told me I needed to fly into the capital. I told her I wanted to go as soon as possible but that I only wanted to stay for no more than two days.
“Are you sure? That’s a long and expensive way to go for only two days,” she asked with a look of uncertainty on her face.
“Well, how far is Tie Win from the capital?”
“Well, see here. It is spelled T-H-A-I-N-G-U-Y-E-N,” she said pointing on the map of Southeast Asia. “It’s right here. So using the scale, it can’t be more than fifty miles outside the capital.”
“Then two days is all I need.”
I had no intention of sightseeing. I had only one mission in mind and that was to fulfill dad’s wish. Besides, I knew absolutely nothing of Vietnam. I’d never met a Vietnamese person in my life, and I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t want to eat their food.
“There is a flight this Friday. You’d arrive in Hanoi on Sunday morning, fly back out on Tuesday night and so you’d arrive back in Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning. It’s $2200.”
“It’s perfect.”
“Now, I can work on getting you an expedited visa on arrival. And, of course, you do have your passport already, right?”
“Yes.”
I actually did have a passport. In July 2001, one of my buddies from work got this bright idea to fly to Puerto Rico for a vacation. He was really into classic drag racing at that time, and he heard on TV that the world championship was being held in September at the Salinas Speedway in Puerto Rico. After much pleading, he convinced me to go with him. So we both sent away for our passports only to find out later that Puerto Rico was a part of the United States and that we didn’t even need them. To further rub salt in the wounds, we never got to go because our September 15 th flight was cancelled because of the attacks on the World Trade Center days earlier. My timing was always impeccable and my knowledge always overflowing.
I had $3000 in my savings account which had taken me about ten years to accumulate, but I intended to spend it all on dad. I plopped down the cash which I had withdrawn earlier in the morning, and ten minutes later I walked out to my car holding in my hands the itinerary to Vietnam.
I felt nervous and worked up. I couldn’t believe I was actually going through with this; now all I had to do was break the news to Mom.
I bottled up the explosive news for two more days, but on Wednesday morning I sat down beside her as she ate her breakfast of cereal and toast.
“Mom, I have to talk to you about something.”
She looked up at me for a moment and then continued eating.
“Dad asked me,” I stopped and stumbled over my words. “Dad…”
“Martin, just say it,” she snapped in her snarky way.
“Before Dad died, he asked me to do something for him.”
“Martin, what foolishness are you talking about? If I could just get you to shut up about your father.”
“Mom, listen. Dad told me he wanted to be cremated, and that he wanted his ashes to be dumped out in Vietnam.”
“Martin, what are you talking about? Vietnam? Vietnam? That place destroyed him. That place destroyed his life. He came back from Vietnam, and I didn’t recognize him.”
“Mom, but that was his wish.”
“Why, Martin? Why? Why would he have said such a foolish thing as that? You never could understand
After the funeral when I brought the urn home, she looked at me with daggers in her eyes.
“Get that thing out of my house. Why did you think I wanted him buried? I wanted him out of this house for good.”
I didn’t say anything about the cremation or Vietnam or my intended trip. I just took the urn into my room and hid it out of sight.
Three days after the funeral I went to AAA to look into flights to Vietnam. I told the travel agent I needed to go to ‘Tie Win’ and after she looked up a few things told me I needed to fly into the capital. I told her I wanted to go as soon as possible but that I only wanted to stay for no more than two days.
“Are you sure? That’s a long and expensive way to go for only two days,” she asked with a look of uncertainty on her face.
“Well, how far is Tie Win from the capital?”
“Well, see here. It is spelled T-H-A-I-N-G-U-Y-E-N,” she said pointing on the map of Southeast Asia. “It’s right here. So using the scale, it can’t be more than fifty miles outside the capital.”
“Then two days is all I need.”
I had no intention of sightseeing. I had only one mission in mind and that was to fulfill dad’s wish. Besides, I knew absolutely nothing of Vietnam. I’d never met a Vietnamese person in my life, and I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t want to eat their food.
“There is a flight this Friday. You’d arrive in Hanoi on Sunday morning, fly back out on Tuesday night and so you’d arrive back in Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning. It’s $2200.”
“It’s perfect.”
“Now, I can work on getting you an expedited visa on arrival. And, of course, you do have your passport already, right?”
“Yes.”
I actually did have a passport. In July 2001, one of my buddies from work got this bright idea to fly to Puerto Rico for a vacation. He was really into classic drag racing at that time, and he heard on TV that the world championship was being held in September at the Salinas Speedway in Puerto Rico. After much pleading, he convinced me to go with him. So we both sent away for our passports only to find out later that Puerto Rico was a part of the United States and that we didn’t even need them. To further rub salt in the wounds, we never got to go because our September 15 th flight was cancelled because of the attacks on the World Trade Center days earlier. My timing was always impeccable and my knowledge always overflowing.
I had $3000 in my savings account which had taken me about ten years to accumulate, but I intended to spend it all on dad. I plopped down the cash which I had withdrawn earlier in the morning, and ten minutes later I walked out to my car holding in my hands the itinerary to Vietnam.
I felt nervous and worked up. I couldn’t believe I was actually going through with this; now all I had to do was break the news to Mom.
I bottled up the explosive news for two more days, but on Wednesday morning I sat down beside her as she ate her breakfast of cereal and toast.
“Mom, I have to talk to you about something.”
She looked up at me for a moment and then continued eating.
“Dad asked me,” I stopped and stumbled over my words. “Dad…”
“Martin, just say it,” she snapped in her snarky way.
“Before Dad died, he asked me to do something for him.”
“Martin, what foolishness are you talking about? If I could just get you to shut up about your father.”
“Mom, listen. Dad told me he wanted to be cremated, and that he wanted his ashes to be dumped out in Vietnam.”
“Martin, what are you talking about? Vietnam? Vietnam? That place destroyed him. That place destroyed his life. He came back from Vietnam, and I didn’t recognize him.”
“Mom, but that was his wish.”
“Why, Martin? Why? Why would he have said such a foolish thing as that? You never could understand
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