Translated…
That day, I’d gathered with my classmates, and I’d asked them along to the house for an “afterwards” gathering. The Plumeria was in full bloom, the birds chirped on, the coffees, aromatic, and, in the laughter and conversations, my classmates commented, “Your house is so spacious, so pretty”, it’d made me feel somewhat nostalgic over the suite-size home that we had when we were first married.
Back then, my husband and I worked in Taipei and Changhwa separately, and, parting ways with him after the weekends would always made me teary eyed. A year later, we’d asked for separate transfers to Taichung, where we’d rented a place, but because the rent was very high, so, we’d rented the two other bedrooms of our three bedroom apartment, to the female college students nearby.
Even if I was cramped into a small bedroom with my husband, but, this suite was the warmest home I ever had. My husband brought back the models from his construction site, made it into a long bench, then, I’d put the cushions on, and, it’d gotten turned into a couch, with a square shaped dining table, this was, where we’d sat over cups of coffees, talking about our dreams. There was a stem of common reed, inside that pottery we bought together over at the corner, letting me know, that autumn is here. And, we’d painted our handmade desk into white, we’d only bought two chairs for sitting, so we could have something to support our backs as we read. The mattress was on the floor, and, the separation door we’d made at the base of our beds, and, on it was, some ink paintings we made ourselves, and, we live in this beautifully made place. We’d spent our harder, but amazing days here; sharing the dreams of having a home all our own was what drove us.
We’d lived in this suite which became our home, for two years, until the kids were born, and my husband became a successful entrepreneur, and, our household economics got better, and finally, we had a home to call our own. The past is hard to forget, the hardships, the love we’d shared along the way is still clear as day.
The memories you shared, from the beginning, when you two were just starting out, when you didn’t have much, but shared the same dreams, and worked hard together to achieve your shared dreams, and now, as you grow older, you look back, and savor these memories that you two have shared.
Life, the Obstacle Course 