Sweet home

 

This article is dedicated for my roommate D. After living in Davis for about an year, I was too late to renew my rental contract so that I had to look for a new place to live. I checked a lot of rental places but non of them seemed to be right for me, until one day I saw this vintage style duplex for rent, I just knew right away that it was exactly where I wanted to live! The house looked somehow familiar to me for unknown reasons, so I decided to rent it even the leasing price was a bit high. I was lucky enough to find a roommate very soon to split the monthly rent.

However, my roommate would move out after a quarter, so if I could not find another roommate, I would have to pay the full monthly rent that I could not afford at all. It was so hard to find a new roommate at the end of the year, so I was already preparing to move out, but right at this moment, I was so lucky to meet D who just came from Taiwan a few days ago! He became my roommate and I was so happy to able to keep living in this lovely house!

It was kind of interesting that his name was the same as someone I hated very much in LA! and he was even studying the same major as that bastard! ( similar to what happened in Japanese drama “Long Vacation” that the main character and someone he must hate became roommates) In fact, his name also sounds similar to Davis, and that was why he chose to study here. Suddenly I realized everything happened here for a reason, just like a redemption meant for me from the God!

Redemption is not just a second chance. It should be an elaborate process, similar to karma in Buddhism, providing us an opportunity to see the bigger picture of our life and then be ready to let go , not allowing our bias developed from the past traumas to hurt ourselves or the people around us. It is the only way for us to successfully move on toward the next state of our life. I always believe that D’s being my roommate is exactly this kind of process, letting me to face the bad memories in my past again in a whole new way, so I can learn how to forgive and reconcile with my past and ready to let go of it!

In fact, D had more faith about the redemption than I did! because he would always sincerely care about me and share his stories with me, and I got so many new insights after talking with him. Gradually I found I was not that miserable as I thought, and I could even use the traumatic events of my past to make fun of myself! Before, I tried to forget about the bad things, but they always came back to my mind at the critical moments of my life to let me lose my confidence and courage, but after I met D, finally I could really let go of the past and have a fresh new start for my life!

However, D offered me much more than this. My life used to be very boring. I spent all the time worrying about my schoolwork. D taught me how to really live life to the fullest everyday! He is very good in cooking, and I have learned to cook a lot of delicious dishes from him. I found cooking is not only a mean for sustaining myself but also a hobby to enjoy my life! Just like cooking, because of his sincerity and positive thinking, all the tedious works in our daily life became so joyful and interesting!

He also treats people with the same kind of positive thinking. He is willing to help everyone including the strangers, regardless of their social status. I knew his sincerity toward people without reservation must make him get hurt very much, because we all know there are too many people who never learn to appreciate the good deeds of the others, and also too many people who only want to hear the flattering words not the genuine advice. However, D never ceases to be nice to the others after getting hurt badly, and he does not isolate himself from the world either. He still cares about everyone around him all the time, and I really admire his courage to do that!

Then I found out he can be so brave because he truly dedicates himself in maintaining a sweet home. Although the world outside can be really dangerous, our home is like a sanctuary for the wounded heart to rest and heal. Being his roommate, I have learned to take care of the sweet home from him. I would help him to cook when I had time. I also tried to spend more time decorating the house and cleaning in order to make our home prettier and neater. In the process, I just realize our home is the source of energy for our redemption!

D’s optimism and sincerity let him have many new friends in a short time, and soon our home became the best place for parties! I was so touched about his effort to introduce all his new friends to me, so I could also be a friend of them. It was so great for me because it would take me much longer time to make friends all by myself. My life also became more fun and relaxed because of these new friends.

However, we did not stay here long. A half year later, D had to go back to Taiwan for a while, and I could not find a roommate so I had to find another place to live too. I thought it was the end of the story of my sweet home, but miracle did happen!

I did not like my new place at all. Later when D came back to Davis, the room he rented was in an apartment exactly opposite to the duplex that we lived before! so when D left Davis to study in San Jose, I got to stay in D’s room! My new roommate (also D’s previous roommate), T’s name was very similar to D! You can see there were so many miracles in Davis! At that time I was very down in my life, even considering to give up my research, and I could go on only because the support from D and T plus all the new friends in the house! They are like angels to me, and I really need to thank them for being there for me!

After moving to my new home, things were much better for me. T had been my roommate for 2 years before he went back to Taiwan, and D had transferred to my previous school that I missed so much, USC! and I just realized that all the time spending with D was a journey for both of us to reach our dreams! I still live at the same place, and although I will move out some day, I will always remember the wonderful friendship we have enabling us to reach our redemption, all starting right here in my sweet home! (9/27/2010)