“A morning of summer 35 years ago, my dear grandma was sitting among hundreds of lotus flowers, freshly picked from West Lake, to make her scented lotus tea.

Grandma is a Hanoian lady who speaks fluent English, French, had a fabulous city life until war arrived. Four wars affecting Viet Nam have spanned her lifetime, she must have seen many sadness and suffering. But the stories she told us in our childhood were all bright and kind, never I heard her complain about what happened, instead she always made the choice to live happily, effectively and be a healthy beautiful lady.

Grandma Tiên Đan was the first one who taught me to stitch and helped me preparing my first personal sewing box, a sign of a grownup girl. Up until today, I still love finding time to talk more with her about our family history.”

- Pham Ngoc Tram