19.may.2025

Dear reader,

It’s been a while. You’d think that because we’ve owned the house for almost 2 years now, we’d no longer take this long to settle in. Au contraire. Because all work done till date has been born out of necessity, i.e. the kitchen, the living room, the bedrooms - that we would look at a situation and then spring into action. It had been imperative for them to be fixed as soon as possible. Which also means that everything else, from here on now feels like cosmetics. That instead of being the decisive squirrels that we’ve been, we’d sit longer on things. Process it, settle into it and after what feels like forever, finally coming around to restarting. It’s been a month since returning and everything within the house has felt somewhat stagnant. Though I suspect we are beginning to find our footing again. 

Later this week, we’re welcoming a big group of visitors who will be staying with us for approximately 2 weeks. So it’s about time to get started on making sure there’s enough space. 

You see, it has been rumoured that people who find themselves here, are looking for a place to breathe. To regroup. Something about being in nature, away from those who know you too well, to be free of judgement. To actually have room to think about next steps. That for them, they’re bookmarking their reality. And in that sliver of space that they’ve carved out in their calendar for us, I want to try and ensure they get as much of that as possible. And be as comfortable as possible while doing so. 

Our property always had 3 levels. But until last winter, we barely had the chance to do up the ground floor. For a short stint, we did see an influx of guests so we did a preliminary clean-up then. Just clearing the floor enough for mattresses and your luggage. But now that Spring is here and you no longer need the gas heater blasting aplenty, your head is clearer. The steps you take are more deliberate. 

Yanrong has been seen battling mosquitoes and painting the walls. Helping with the new floorboards so that our next guest will have a warmer welcome. Documenting the memory so that we don’t have to. Despite being a work in progress, it's important to note that without her, we would still be procrastinating about starting. So it makes me want to do more.

I’m an avid romance reader. And if you’re involved with the book world, you’re plenty familiar with book tropes. My soft spot - the found family trope. That there’s another family out there for you, one that you seek out and then settle in. This is especially apparent when you begin to carve a life for yourself out of the country you were born in. That it does take a village and whoever willing to step in and help, should never be taken for granted. 

I can’t stress enough that whoever has come here has fully cemented that unconditional love does exist. Because I got to witness the amount of generosity from those who passes through and it really is one of the most beautiful forms of altruism - doing something for someone else even though they don’t get to enjoy it.

It’s why when I was trying to figure out a term for those who do come, I landed on residents. Because the house is much yours as it ours. That when you come, contribute your love in a way that’s exclusively yours, the house changes a little again. It becomes a little better because of you. Taking cue from one of my favourite songs of all time, it well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime, but before we part, so much of me is made of what I learned from you. 

That whatever way our stories end, you have rewritten ours by being here. 

ash