In chapter nine, Le Ly recounts her experiences as a mother and her bond with her own mother and father. She reminds the reader and illustrates the love of parents. During the war, parents were faced by constant fear that their children might never come home. As Le Ly's mother, Tran Thi Huyen, describes the world of a parent during and after the war, she states in the epigraph:
"Troi dat doi thay- heaven and earth changed places!"
This powerful phrase that serves as the title of Ly Ly's book describes the turmoil that the war had turned the world into. The phrase depicts how a society, though not perfect, once survived peacefully was turned completely upside down due to the fighting that destroyed this peace. It describes how the parents, family members, and friends of those who died felt when they learned and tried to move on after the death of a loved one. With such despair, their was little for the people to look forward to as they felt that tomorrow could at the most, only be the same as today. They could no longer look forward to the return of their loved from war or the victory that would end the fighting as both had been taken away.
Today, heaven and earth continue to change places for people around the world. Everyday time a child dies unnaturally before the time of a parent as is customary, heaven and earth changes places for that family and their friends. At times, those living in poverty begin to loose hope that tomorrow can be better than today. For them, heaven and earth changed places.
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