The Trip Back
By Robert Olen Butler, first published in The Southern Review
A man picks up his wife's grandfather from the airport after years of separation. However, the man must comfort his wife when she realizes her grandfather's memory is failing and he no longer recognizes her.
Author
Published in
Year
Words
Collections
Summary
A man drives from Louisiana to the airport in Texas to pick up his wife's grandfather, Mr. Chihn. Mr. Chihn had lived under Communist rule in their home country of Vietnam. The man notes the small businesses he passes as he drives and observes that they look "so Vietnamese" to him.
The man knows his wife adores her grandfather, as all respectful Vietnamese children love their elders. When she was young, his wife's father had passed away, so her grandfather had become a father to her. The night before he departed for the airport, his wife had wept in his arms in an outpour of emotion at the fact that she spent so many years away from her beloved grandfather.
When he gets to the airport, he greets Mr. Chinh with distant formality. After he deals with Mr. Chinh's amazement at a foreign airport, he shows Mr. Chinh the way to his car. However, when Mr. Chinh realizes that he drives an Acura, he makes a disappointed comment. The man takes the comment about his car a bit offensively and decides to keep to himself while Mr. Chinh gazes out the window. When he tries to pick up small talk again, Mr. Chinh breaks the flow of conversation. He states that he prefers a different car, the 1934 Hotchkiss, that he used to drive in Vietnam during his youth. Suddenly, Mr. Chinh asks the man if he is his nephew's friend. Confused, the man replies that he is his granddaughter's husband, and Mr. Chinh strangely replies that he never had a granddaughter.
They arrive at the man's home, and he brings Mr. Chinh to his daughter for a private reunion.
After he leaves them alone, the man reflects on his own forgetfulness. He thinks about instances where he is separated from his wife. He realizes that he can barely conjure up a mental image of her face. He also cannot remember his own childhood in Vietnam.
His wife approaches him looking forlorn and says she put her grandfather to sleep in the guest room, hoping he will remember her after he wakes up.
The man feels sympathetic for his wife. He rides her on his back and runs around until she laughs to make her happy.