Last week, my husband went back to China again to visit his mother—you might remember I started another article with this same sentence before. Yes, he’s been making these trips quite often in recent years.
But I don’t mind. In fact, I even look forward to it…
One January night after Christmas, I sat at my computer, working on my articles. My husband was beside the fireplace reading, while Sparky, our dog, curled up at his feet, asleep. The house was quiet. It felt a bit different. I lifted my eyes, and my gaze landed on the piano. Yes, this was it—its master, my older son, Ben, had just moved out!
我是南方人，但我却偏爱面食，尤其是包子。在我看来，做包子有三大难关：第一是发面，第二是揉面，第三是包包子时的收口工序。每次我都在第一道工序就败下阵来，最后不得不草草收场，吃几天夹肉的面疙瘩。因此，不仅是包子，连馒头我都很少尝试。这次圣诞假期，孩子们的姑姑从美国过来，无意间提到她喜欢吃包子，于是我下定决心再尝试一次。
At that moment, I realized that human interactions really can be simple and pleasant. Sometimes, in trying to prepare for the worst, we overcomplicate things and miss out on the ease that comes from genuine connections. I couldn’t help but feel my last-minute gesture of offering him a discount kind of spoiled the simplicity and was unnecessary at all.
Earlier this year, my husband went back to China to visit family, planning to stay for at least two months. To help you understand my story better, here’s something you should know: in our household, I’m the cooking person, and my husband is the maintenance guy. I rely on him for anything involving tools. Yes, I consider him a handyman—although a bit bossy at times—while labeling myself as someone “not good with hands.”
上次为了完成头马的一个项目，我讲了一个 Talk Show，效果还不错。那天，我和 Teresa 一起走出 Linkey 大门时，Teresa 用她那一贯云淡风轻的口气对我说：“Wendy，你应该去参加多伦多那个什么脱口秀。”我看了她一眼，她一脸认真，不像是在开玩笑。我又看了看自己，心想：虽然她看起来不像是在开玩笑，但她是不是把我看成另一个人了？吴雪琴？你们都知道，Teresa 高度近视，Hana 说她有一次在公园把一个大树桩看成了大黑熊。
While we celebrate and cheer for all the conveniences modern technology has brought to us, it’s worth pausing to consider what truly matters. What do we value most as human beings? What are the essentials for building meaningful relationships and fostering genuine connections?