VietNamNet Bridge – Sai Gon native Nguyen Duc Dam, 101, and Ha Noi native Nguyen Thi Que, 91, have been married for 61 years.

Sai Gon native Nguyen Duc Dam, 101, and Ha Noi native Nguyen Thi Que, 91, have been married for 61 years – Photo: thegioitre.vn

Their love has never diminished.

Que, with failing eyesight, feeds and bathes her husband daily, and though she can rely on others for help, she prefers to do it herself.

Such devotion and love has left a deep impression on their neighbours.

Dam, a Confucian scholar, first came to Sai Gon in 1955 with his family.

As Que recalls, he would stop by her working place to pick her up and take her home. Though the offer left her somewhat speechless, she agreed.

He then began to stop by regularly.

“Initially, I thought he just was passing by on his way somewhere,” she says. “But I wasn’t aware at the time that our hearts were for each other.”

They decided to get married, but her family opposed the union because Dam was poor. However, after Que’s insistence, the family finally relented.

Dam did not have a gold ring to make an offer of marriage. All he could give Que was a bunch of areca nuts.

Over the years, despite poverty and war, the couple insisted that their children attend school.  

Dam says that his father was also Confucian, and that he wants all of his six children to become teachers.  

With such care shown by Que, including taking Dam to church and around the neighbourhood, the neighbours can only look on in envy.

VNS