My Idol in My Life

The person affects my life the most, and also my only idol, my goal of living is my grandma. In the time when most Asian women did not dare to express themselves, to speak out what was on their mind, my grandmother did. Her rare personality was popular and highly respected among those who knew her. At that time women would not have good education, however everybody would turn to my grandmother’s wisdom to ask for help. She was smart and profound but yet vigorously caring and loving towards her family, relatives and friends. I was her favorite grandchildren, and as I got to stay with her the longest my childhood was actually full of her love and teachings. Whenever I feel down and helpless with my life, my grandmother has always been my motivation to get up and fight.

My grandmother grew up in a middle class family, not wealthy but still considered intelligentsia. Her grandfather was a general in the last Vietnamese dynasty but the following generation was a downturn. Women at that time were not allowed to go to school; the only education they could get was from their own family. My grandmother managed to learn how to write and read, do simple mathematics and poetry mostly by herself because she was aware of the importance of being educated. However her wisdom came from all the ups and downs she had gone through in life, the downfall of her family, the gambler and unfaithful husband and the death of one of her two sons. She had been through all the obstacles and deprivations that could ever happen to a woman, and she still stood strong and helped her family keep moving on. If it had not been to her sharp decision where to go, and what to do my family would not survive the Vietnam War. She parted her kindred into small groups and sent each to different locations so that even one group should get in danger the others had the option to run away in time. It has never been easy to keep such a large family in peace, when my grandfather had two wives, and eleven