Maderville

Farewell

I said a tearful good-bye to Sister Rosalie today. It was much harder than I expected it to be. Mainly because she is my family now. I have grown to love her in a much deeper way than I have my whole life. Before I loved the person that took care of me and ultimately gave me the life I have now by giving me to my parents. Now I love her for the person she is to me today. She is so many things that I can’t put in to words. She has a story that humbles me and makes me appreciate all that I have in a way that makes me want to be a better person. She told me that many people had asked to adopt me but she said no. She said she waited until she found the right person for me because I was special and knew that I had great things in store for me. She said she knew that I would have a good life one day but she never imagined that I would have it so good. After visiting Vietnam last year, I know how right she is! I wanted to photograph the initial meeting that she and my Daddy had at the airport but my camera was buried deep inside my bag and I just wasn't fast enough. It was so sweet and heartwarming. If only the people around them knew what was actually taking place. Standing there was the remarkable story of two people who have given selflessly their entire lives. My sister and I are the grand benefactors of what their hearts are made of and hopefully we are paying it forward in some small way in how we live our lives.
I said I would tell you the story of Sister Rosalie in an earlier post but know that this is just a thumbnail print of what I know. Her story is far greater and more complex than I could ever possibly comprehend.
Thi Tho Tran, known to me as Sister Rosalie is a Catholic Dominican Sister in Vietnam. She is college educated and a doctor of Traditional Medicine. When she was finished with college(in her late teens) she went to work at Tan Mai Orphanage. This is where she met my Daddy who was a Major in the US Army at the time. He and his soldiers spent much of their off time helping the nuns repair things, build things and work at the orphanage. They played with the children, taught them things and even helped care for them on occasion. My father was instrumental in getting her supplies, food, toys, clothes, diapers and medicine for the children. He even got her a refrigerator which was ironic because when I went to Vietnam last year, we asked her what she needed and she said a refrigerator. Little did she know that I had a letter that she had written my mother 35 years earlier telling her that my father was so kind and generous for getting them a refrigerator. She never remembered that letter and when I showed it to her she just smiled so big. It was one of those full circle moments in my life that I will never forget. Of course we got her the best one we could find in Vietnam! My sister Rhonda got her a butane stove top burner to cook on so we did kind of a kitchen makeover for her. Giving her those things made us feel so blessed. She said she had had her refrigerator for almost 30 years and that she had painted it 3 times! It was no bigger than a dorm size unit but since they cook fresh vegetables every day it was adequate.
After communism took over in 1975 Sister Rosalie was moved from running the orphanage to working long hard days in the rice fields for 10 years. If you were educated they moved you to field jobs so you wouldn’t be a threat. Finally she went to work at the Charity Hospital where she currently practices medicine. She works long hard days seeing 300-400 patients a day and also teaching. I don’t know how she does it! They brought in another doctor to take her place while she was here but they email her everyday wondering when she will be back. She said the last time she had a vacation was 10 years ago for 2 weeks and before then it had been longer. She works 6 days a week seeing patients and since she lives at the hospital she has is usually on call on the 7th. Makes my life with little ole Landry seem a little less stressful!
I wish I could have written down all of the funny things that happened while she was here but there were just too many of them. In the coming days, I will post a little more about our trip and more importantly, our journey here with Sister Rosalie.
I will miss you Sister Rosalie. Thank you for loving me enough to give me to such great parents and for being my ‘first mother’.