Reflections on Vu by Mike Thompson
Mike Thompson is one of Vu's Canadian brothers. I didn't capture Mike Thompson's reflections in their entirety, but I did my best and I caught most of it. This is the last of the eulogies I recorded, but tomorrow I will share some thoughts I had on the day of the funeral.
Belinda
As I’ve watched people come and go over the last couple of days, I’ve come to realize that there are a lot of you who can call Vu brother for a variety of reasons.
(Mike turned to Vu’s biological brother and named him:)
You can call Vu brother because you were born into his family. Christina, Brian and I can call Vu brother because my parents made a decision twenty nine years ago that has forever altered our lives for the best.
Some of you can call Vu brother because of a choice you made, for better or worse when you married into his family or when he married into yours.
Many of you can call Vu brother because fifteen years ago he decided to serve and protect, when he joined the Ontario Provincial Police.
And many of you can call Vu brother because of a decision that he made to accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour.
No matter how Vu was your brother, you have so much to be proud of; I know I do. You see Vu was my hero.
Growing up with Vu I had to share a bedroom with him and as you’ve already heard, Vu was an amazing storyteller. It didn’t matter what the story was, I inevitably found myself in the middle of his adventure.
Oh, what a storyteller. He would paint a picture with his words in such vivid detail—whether it was hunting--and the one that got away—you could see the blades of grass—he was just so gifted.
He was also my hero because of his strength. Some of you might know this but Vu, small as he was, was a weight lifter and underneath of that uniform was one built man. He wasn’t just built with muscle, he was built with integrity, and he was strong in every sense of the word.
But the one thing that set Vu apart in my mind was his ability to connect with people. You’ve already heard some of the stories of how he connected with different people, but knowing my brother, my guess is that even if you were pulled over to get a speeding ticket, as you drove away--much slower--you would have called him your friend.
Shortly after I showed up to be with my family, one of the stories that I heard was how some people on Facebook had said, “You know, I got to go for a ride with Vu once in the back of his car and it was the best ride I ever had because he treated me with respect and dignity.”
And that’s who Vu was.
He may have died a hero to you, but he lived a hero to me.
Post Script:
Fred Preston, the man whose bullet killed Vu, died in hospital on Thursday evening March 11th. Today I heard that a request has been made by Fred Preston's children that in lieu of flowers in his memory at his funeral, they wish donations to be made to the trust fund for Vu's children. Both families were connected as friends and this tragedy has caused indescribable pain to them all.
Donations may be made to the trust fund at any Scotiabank (account # 410120217921)
Condolences
If you wish to send condolences to the family you can do so by sending an email to this email address: oppcorporatecommunications@ontario.ca or by visiting this website
Belinda
As I’ve watched people come and go over the last couple of days, I’ve come to realize that there are a lot of you who can call Vu brother for a variety of reasons.
(Mike turned to Vu’s biological brother and named him:)
You can call Vu brother because you were born into his family. Christina, Brian and I can call Vu brother because my parents made a decision twenty nine years ago that has forever altered our lives for the best.
Some of you can call Vu brother because of a choice you made, for better or worse when you married into his family or when he married into yours.
Many of you can call Vu brother because fifteen years ago he decided to serve and protect, when he joined the Ontario Provincial Police.
And many of you can call Vu brother because of a decision that he made to accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour.
No matter how Vu was your brother, you have so much to be proud of; I know I do. You see Vu was my hero.
Growing up with Vu I had to share a bedroom with him and as you’ve already heard, Vu was an amazing storyteller. It didn’t matter what the story was, I inevitably found myself in the middle of his adventure.
Oh, what a storyteller. He would paint a picture with his words in such vivid detail—whether it was hunting--and the one that got away—you could see the blades of grass—he was just so gifted.
He was also my hero because of his strength. Some of you might know this but Vu, small as he was, was a weight lifter and underneath of that uniform was one built man. He wasn’t just built with muscle, he was built with integrity, and he was strong in every sense of the word.
But the one thing that set Vu apart in my mind was his ability to connect with people. You’ve already heard some of the stories of how he connected with different people, but knowing my brother, my guess is that even if you were pulled over to get a speeding ticket, as you drove away--much slower--you would have called him your friend.
Shortly after I showed up to be with my family, one of the stories that I heard was how some people on Facebook had said, “You know, I got to go for a ride with Vu once in the back of his car and it was the best ride I ever had because he treated me with respect and dignity.”
And that’s who Vu was.
He may have died a hero to you, but he lived a hero to me.
Post Script:
Fred Preston, the man whose bullet killed Vu, died in hospital on Thursday evening March 11th. Today I heard that a request has been made by Fred Preston's children that in lieu of flowers in his memory at his funeral, they wish donations to be made to the trust fund for Vu's children. Both families were connected as friends and this tragedy has caused indescribable pain to them all.
Donations may be made to the trust fund at any Scotiabank (account # 410120217921)
Condolences
If you wish to send condolences to the family you can do so by sending an email to this email address: oppcorporatecommunications@ontario.ca or by visiting this website
Comments
I was surprised to see your blog title on a friends blog so I had to check it out. We are close friends of Heathers' family. I found this site and I thought you might enjoy seeing a little of what we missed while inside. Here is a website that has some pictures of parts that we missed when we were inside. http://www.am920.ca/fun.php?area=photos&gallery_id=14&album_id=178&show_id=
Praying for the hurting families,
Janet