WESTMINSTER : Couple Reunited After 5 Long Years

When Phong Nguyen emigrated from Vietnam in 1985, his wife of one year stayed behind, awaiting permission from her government to follow him to the United States.

It wasn’t until Friday that Nguyen heard his wife’s voice again.

“For four weeks, I couldn’t sleep,” he said as he waited at Los Angeles International Airport for his wife, Phuong Dung, to clear customs.

He held a single long-stemmed red rose, tied with a red bow, and presented it to his wife with a hug when she arrived.

Nguyen, 27, of Westminster said the couple had not spoken even on the phone since they were separated. “It costs too much money--$6.75 a minute. We just sent letters,” he said, two each week.

After more than five years apart, Nguyen sometimes wondered whether he should give up his life in the United States and return so they could be together again. But four weeks ago, his wife received approval to join him.

Asked how she felt to be reunited, Phuong Dung Nguyen, 25, held her husband’s hand and said only that she is happy.

Jim Matthews, Ngyuen’s friend and co-worker who also went to the airport, said Ngyuen has always been optimistic and patient about his wife’s return.

“Ever since I met him, he’s talked about his wife. ‘Someday she’s gonna come.’ And he talked about it like it was going to be tomorrow--even years ago,” said Matthews, who works with Nguyen at Architectural Doors in Stanton.

“I thought it was just kind of ridiculous, but he never ever lost hope in that,” Matthews said.

Still, Matthews said, Nguyen did have reservations: “I could sense his frustration that they weren’t together. He was ready to go back because it wasn’t worth it without her.”

Nguyen’s family also joined the airport welcoming party.

“We’re very ecstatic to see my sister-in-law. Long time no see,” said Nguyen’s sister, Anhdai.

The couple will continue living in Westminster near Little Saigon with Nguyen’s parents, brothers and sister. They have no children, he said--”not yet”--but expect to start a family in two or three years.

Nguyen’s boss has given him a few days off, and the couple will honeymoon in Hawaii in two weeks, he said.

Their plans for the future include gaining U.S. citizenship for Nguyen and enrolling his wife at Golden West College in Huntington Beach.