Ông NgoạI’s funeral was last week, and as I was feeling grateful that modern technology allowed me to attend the funeral online from half way across the globe….my mind couldn’t help but wander back to his mango tree and our neighbor Ông Quảng’s rose apple tree - a romance for the ages.💜

You see, as we were reading our comic books and napping under the shades of the mango tree, next door, Ông Quảng’s grandchildren were doing the same thing under their grandfather’s rose apple tree. The two trees were comparable in heights, maturity, and fruitfulness. Their branches reached over to each other’s territory, interlocking in a warm embrace. I used to fantasize that they were lovers having conversations in their secret language, as their leaves rustled in the summer breeze.

Sometimes, we stole the rose apples that reached over to our side, but Ông Quảng’s grandchildren never snitched, because they also stole our mangoes that reached over to their side. We had an unspoken understanding 😁.

And with that unspoken understanding, many delicious and tender memories were made under the united canopy of Ông Khảo’s mango tree and Ông Quảng’s rose apple tree - the romance of all ages. 💜