Once her kids graduated from Wayne High School in Huber Heights, Nguyen moved to Franklin and started working as a nail technician at True Nails in Hamilton.
Nguyen was divorced, 64 years old and planned to retire next year. She wanted to spend more time with her family, cook and garden more. Three of her loves.
That retirement celebration never occurred.
Instead, the family attended her funeral.
On Aug. 13, Nguyen, while driving from Franklin to Hamilton, was hit by a wrong-way driver who was running from law enforcement on Ohio 129 and Interstate 75 in Liberty Twp. She died on Oct. 7, nearly eight weeks later from those injuries.
She spent nearly all that time in the intensive care unit.
Nhu-Y Dao, 39, remembers that fateful phone call when police said her mother was involved in a crash. She wasn’t told about any crash details at the time or the seriousness of her mother’s injuries.
Charles Sullivan, 40, of Hamilton, was driving west in the eastbound lanes of Ohio 129 when he crashed head-on into Nguyen, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office crash report.
He recently was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and more charges may be filed, according to the sheriff’s office. Dao believes Sullivan should face the “appropriate punishment” if he’s indicted by a Butler County grand jury.
“The law needs to do what it does,” she said.
That may take weeks, if not months. The justice system moves slow.
The loss of a parent is painful and the wounds may never heal.
“I haven’t fully come to terms with it,” Dao said through tears. “It’s been incredibly difficult and with the holidays coming up, it will be much more difficult.”
As a nail technician, to her younger clients, Nguyen was a mother figure, and to her older clients and colleagues, she was like a sister, Dao said. She was known for her hard work, often working 10-hour days, six days a week, tirelessly supporting her family, her daughter said.
Nearly every penny Nguyen earned was dedicated to her children, her family in Vietnam, and her friends in the U.S.
If someone complimented her on an outfit she was wearing, Nguyen was known to give it away if she thought it would bring them joy, her daughter said.
Dao said she will cherish the memories of her mother. Her generosity. Her love of cooking and gardening.
What will she miss the most?
The phone went silent for a few seconds.
“That’s hard,” Dao said.
Then she said what a lot of us who have lost a parent want more than anything.
“Just being able to pick up the phone and talk to her,” she said.
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