Early on the morning of October 18, Toi eagerly awaited the long-distance bus drrining Tiep from Da Nang city to Quang Ngai province for a tearful reunion after 48 years of being apart from each other.

The brother, Tiep, and his younger sister, Toi were reunited in Mo Duc district in Quang Ngai province, after losing each other when they were young children. - Photo: Tuoi Tre

Even though it was just a normal bus with other people, it was a special one for the two unfortunate siblings.

Dreadful accident

They never forgot the accident which occurred not long after their parents’ death in 1964 and changed their fate forever.

“My younger sister was still a baby while I was only three years old when it happened”, Tiep recalled in tears. “After our parents were killed in the war, we lived with our aunt and grandmother until that day when I did a stupid thing.”

“One day, while looking for my sister, who was hiding somewhere in the house, I put an oil lamp next to the thatched partition of the house. Unfortunately, after a moment, the small fire spread, burning the partition, and then the whole house. I was so scared that I ran out of the house and ran far away while my sister was saved by our grandmother. Since that day, we had never seen each other gain,” he said while crying.

After the accident, the three-year-old boy lost not only his little sister, but also all his relatives. He drifted to another village in Da Nang city and worked as a servant to farmers, who asked him to herd buffaloes, load firewood and cut grass every day, to support himself. He did this for a number of years before deciding to leave the city and go to Dong Nai province to find a better job.

“I wanted to return and find my sister but… I was so scared for everything I did. I also didn’t have enough money to go back to our village at that time”, he added. “I wished that my sister and relatives would forgive me.”

During that period, Toi, Tiep’s sister, lived with her aunt until she was 16 and decided to leave home and look for her brother. Along the way, she also had to work hard to support herself while waiting for news of her brother.

Quang, Toi’s husband and also an orphan, said, “Over many years my wife looked for her brother in desperation because she had no clue where he wasand she had forgotten his face. The only thing she still remembered was his name, Tiep”.

Fate has smiled upon them at last

Fortunately, in Dong Nai province, Tiep met Van, an old friend from his hometown, who encouraged him to find his sister.

He returned to his hometown and looked for his acquaintances. “Everything had changed a lot since the day I ran away. I was unable to recognize where my home village was. However, after many days of searching, I met an old woman who immediately recalled my family when she was told my parents’ names”, Tiep said.

“She told me that my aunt was still living in our home village. Moreover, I was surprised by the woman’s news that my sister was alive and living in Quang Ngai”, he shared in tears.

Tiep was so happy that he ran toward his aunt’s house under the scorching sun. From the small old house at the end of the village, the 80-year-old woman stepped outside and wept when she recognized her nephew. “Tiep, Tiep…you are still alive”, she cried.

In Quang Ngai, Toi, his sister, was quickly informed of the news. Immediately, she asked for her brother’s telephone number and called him without any hesitation. “This is Toi, brother,” were the first ones spoken between the siblings in 48 years, before they both cried on the phone.

The next day, Tiep caught a bus from Da Nang to Quang Ngai for their expected reunion. On the morning of October 18, the bus stopped at Quang Ngai’s Thach Tru crossroad to bring the two siblings together in tears.

Source: tuoitrenews.vn