Offering that warm stay to all who came to visit her, because others had shown the same sort of kindness to her when she was younger, and now, she's, passing along this cycle of kindness too, translated…

My best friend, Wen-Hsin from high school bought a home up north, and set up a guest room especially, for her friends, families who visited her, because she'd felt gratitude toward the connection of the words, "short stay".

Since her college years, Wen-Hsin had enjoyed traveling to the wilderness, as the night rolled in, the B&B, the dorms of the tribal churches, the youth activities centers, and the cabins in the wild, they all, took in her fatigue, and her longing for a good night's rest; a hot cup of tea, a bowl of noodle and soup, a lamplight, a bed of fluffy quilt and sheets, the toothbrushes, the soaps, the toothpastes made available for her to use……………all of these which had been taken for granted, became ever the more precious to her in foreign places.

She'd recalled, how was she'd gone to the tribes to stay, the woman who gave her a stay delivered a thick quilt to her, in case if got cold; the activities center in the mountains, after the lights were off, it was covered in darkness and cold, and the lady on night watch shift tried her best, to cook up a warmly served supper for the younger generations of traveler.  That day, that lamp at the supper table, became the center of the world to her, and she'd felt more than blessed for not needing to set up camp out in the wilderness, she held nothing but gratitude toward those who'd given her all she'd ever needed when she's traveling.

illustration from UDN.com

溫暖遠來友人的驛站。圖╱Dofa

As she'd gone up north to take the transfer exams, in that era when there was no MRT available, because the testing place is in Muzha, and there was no hotels locally, she'd, stayed at her cousin's in Jingmei.  On that night, there was a cold front, being away from home to take the exams, it'd made her felt isolated and helpless, but, her cousin's show of care and concerns for her, melted that stiffness from her body, and her heart too.  Those nights as she'd stayed with her cousin, her cousin would leave home intentionally, so Wen-Hsin can study without the distractions.  And, that unsettled heart before the exams, started, settling down int the bright, warm house, she'd told me, that Taipei was so wet and cold that year, but, her cousin's home was, very warm and comfortable to live in, and, it'd made her realized, for the very first time, that a strange house, can be warm, and give her the strengths she'd needed too.

And, all of these travels, and leaving home and finding the stays in foreign places, they'd, rooted in her memories, and, she'd, set her roots down too, for more than decades now, and she'd finally, set up a stay for herself, to shelter her from the wind and the rain.  And so, she'd, opened up her doors to her relatives, her families and friends, and, helped welcomed them all in, with a warm cup of tea, and a homecooked meal.  The long nights, there were, the moments we'd sat and talked endlessly, or, circled around the furnace, and shared our thoughts, and, our lives which were originally, separated, all came, together, inside her, small apartment.

Wen-Hsin felt deeply, "all who comes to my home are my friends", and could understand, "the teas tasted sweet like the wines on a cold night", and, the "days after we'd part, flowed away like the water", she'd shared all of these sentiments with her guests under the lamplight.  And now, she also became, that individual who can, offer a stay to her guests, to warm their hearts, to fill up their stomachs, and she's, more than, satisfied of it.

And so, this is how this woman, returned the kindness she'd received, to others, and, she's, passing along this thought, this act of kindness and help, to people who visited her from afar, giving them a place that's, home away from home.

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