Three Graces

On This Day In History
1929: Legendary actress Audrey Hepburn is born

Quote Of The Day
"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."
(Audrey Hepburn)

When I was reading the comments on my link to Tuesday's blip, I learned some very sad news; Hiep Thi Le had passed away in 2017 at the age of 46. She died of stomach cancer.

I was honoured to meet Ms. Le in Danang in 1995. How that happened is a long story.

I watched the movie Heaven And Earth in 1993, when I was studying to be a primary school teacher at Carmarthen College. I wss deeply moved by the story of Le Ly Hayslip, so I immediately purchasef and read her two autobiographies, When Heaven And Earth Changed Places and Child Of War, Woman Of Peace. At the back of the book was the address of her East Meets West Foundation office in San Francisco with an invitation to please get in contact. So I did.

I collected sponsorship from other students in the college and then ran my first full marathon. I sent the money to the East Meets West Foundation. Later, back home, I raised more money for the foundation through a sponsored swim.

After that, I sponsored one of the orphan children at the Village Of Hope in Danang, helping to pay for his education. Then, in 1995, I went to Vietnam to visit the orphanage and meet the child I was sponsoring. I also met Le Ly Hayslip's mother, Tran Thi Huyen at her home in the village closeby. That is her on the right of today's blip. Meeting Hiep Thi Le in the office was an unexpected and most welcome surprise. She told me at the time that she had quit acting and was training to be a nurse. From Wikipedia I see that she graduated the University of California with a major in Physiology, but it seems she went back into acting before opening a Vietnamese restuarant in Los Angeles and then, later, a French-Vietnamese restaurant on the Venice and Marina del Rey border in 2012. I remember her as a very sweet, charming and humble young lady; may she rest in peace.

Thankfully, Le Ly Hayslip is still alive. I was honoured to meet her in 1996, soon after I arrived in Japan. She was visiting Japan to meet a doctor who regularly donated medical supplies and equipment to the East Meets West Foundation, so Le Ly wrote a letter to me asking me if I would like to meet her. Of course I would! She truly is one of the most remarkable women in the world, with strength, humility, grace, wisdom  and overwhelming love that is awe-inspiring. I believe you can appreciate that through this 1993 interview with Bobbie Wygant; her voice, her eyes as she remembers the horrors she experienced as a child in Vietnam, yet with the grace and humility to minimise her suffering to the experiences of others, including her incredible mother. She remains to this day one of my greatest heroes.

Hiep Thi Le. 
Le Ly Hayslip.
Tran Thi Huyen.

The Three Graces.

Heaven And Earth