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Home > Fellowship Plaza Apt. A202 |
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In My Final Residence ((寓居處)
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As of January 3rd 2018, I am writing this away from my apartment in a motel 15 miles off the coast of San Francisco.
I had started packing up before Christmas of 2017. There are 34 people who live in apartment block A – most of them were taken into a large trailer to a storage place from each of the room owners. Since certain things could be lost during the moving, I had taken books, frames and other things that could be lost into my daughter’s garage.
Whenever I had moved, the books were always an issue. As a pastor, I had bought and read many books and would keep some. Sooner or later they would start to pile up into a large library.
Also were the pictures I took of my family and during my ministry in picture frames, along with quote from famous people in a thick binder and my poems I had written and published in a Christian newspaper for about 30 times which I did not wish to lose were packed inside a box carefully. About 20 boxes were there in total.
I took these boxes to my daughter’s place every Thursday in my small car which was packed by them. There was a small shed where I had put some of the boxes there, and another on in the attic of their home.
When the movers came to see my apartment, they were happy. Mostly because of lack of boxes to move (just the bed, few bookshelves etc), and only totaled to about 10 boxes. Apparently some other apartments there were lots of furniture’s and personal belongings and plates and etc. were to be moved. In another apartment their entire living room was packed with boxes.
Since I had live in a motel for while, I had taken some cooking utensils along with seasonal clothing in about 7 boxes. Since most of these things would be moved by the movers, the only thing I had to really carry were the things that were going into the refrigerator.
While spending the 10 months in the motel, I wrote small memoirs titled “Extended Stay America (1)” and the last thing written was the “Rat like Squirrel”. Despite the small space, the apartment provided us a place to stay, and I thank the apartment company had provided us the rent fee for the motel. My wife and I had diligently walked during morning and evening.
From the A Apartment, about 15 families went to the motel; meanwhile the others went to their relatives’ place. One downside about the motel was, while spending about 10 months there, several elderly had gotten slightly worse in their health. They were the ones that do not come out often, do not exercise regularly. In the confines of the motel, they do not have friends to talk to, or even those who were of the same culture did not have a suitable place to sit and chat in the lobby.
Several of the elderly had to be sent to the emergency room because of the incident. Some even required assistance in their walking. While residing in the apartment, there was an elderly couple that had walked daily, after few months living in the motel they had difficulty walking by themselves. A handful of them had gained weight. One Chinese lady had after only few days returning to the apartment developed dementia and was sent to the care center. Like the famous philosopher Søren Kierkegaard said, “Loneliness is the illness that leads to death”
When my wife and I entered, we promised each other – “While staying here, let’s diligently walk and exercise for our health.” We really did our best to enjoy our time here and exercise diligently. We were the only Korean couple that was staying here.
For me, I had to get to the office in the morning and come home 5PM in the evening, but my wife had to stay alone with herself alone. But my wife said, “While staying here alone, I would read the Bible more. Pray more earnestly and have a graceful time.” I give thanks to the Lord for the results of the cooperation.
Finally on the 24th of October, we had re-entered the newly renovated apartment.
The most amazing thing was the garden surrounding, the hiking routes, exterior and the new parking lot, etc… so many different changes had a bit of impact on me. Along with the Apartment block A and the Office had changed and enlarged the space. When my wife and I were re-entering, it was still under construction. While I am writing this, the construction is still underway to modern looks and the garden is being beautified as well.
When I entered my apartment room, it was exactly the same, but the wall that divided the living room and the kitchen was removed so the room is even more spacious than before. The kitchen had a linoleum paneling that is imitation wood and carpets were installed as well. The fridge’s size had expanded to almost twice the original size.
Not only have that, the kitchen sink included marble tiling. The cabinets on the wall were made of fancy maple wood. The windows are double-layered in glass, and the main window in the living room was expanded in size so the living room and the kitchen is now much brighter inside. The window blinds all looked fancy, and balcony outside was also made to the latest design – so that it is not difficult to raise and lower at all.
The living room and kitchen had air conditioning installed, almost certain it is the latest model. I have visited other elderly folks living in different, more modern senior apartments and have yet seen one that is like the one in my apartment. It is not like the model that is almost on the floor and makes a tone of noise. It is right under the ceiling a small, air conditioning unit in the space between the bedroom and the living room. In the waist level area there is a AC control panel, the temperature setter is clearly visible, and it keeps the temperature constant. Since the main AC machine is on the roof of the building, it is very silent.
The bathrooms were also very well renovated. Now the faucet included marble. The sink was replaced to a bigger one and had now included a small cabinet to store all the bathroom needs. The one surprising thing was, when the light is turned on it usually activates a fan. But this bathroom is different. When a person walks in, there is a sensor that activates the ceiling fan and automatically turns on.
Even in the hallways, whenever the lights will automatically turn on whenever someone is passing by. The entrance, no longer needs to use a key but a small coin-like device that needs to be tapped and it would automatically open the door. It made me look like a simpleton!
When I rode the elevator I remember it rattled a lot. Sometimes I was worried that it would stop in the middle of going up. But now it is brand new and tells the floor level, and announces what floor the person is on and whether it is going up or down.
I had studied construction / architecture when I was young, so I know what it is like to re-build and entire building like that and the difficulty it is involved. I give thanks to those who had worked hard in the field, the people who had developed the new building, also the huge amounts of necessary funding, and people who are spending and planning in such a small space. Also I give many thanks to the urban housing and development (HUD).
While this was happening, (living in the motel) since August, the office I had gone to for the last 14 years shut down. So the many books and the filing cabinets were moved back to my apartment. After about 2 months of cleaning it had finally been organized. Since the closet was designed to have a large space, it helped quite a lot.
I think this will be my last place to ever live in this planet.
After my marriage, I had moved countless times. I had never lived in a single apartment, and having lived in a cheap place all our lives, I give my thanks to the Lord for providing me and my wife with this overflowing grace. I give praise and thanks to the Lord who gave us a taste and feel of what his overflowing grace am like through this environment. This apartment is the epitome of God’s promises experienced in the foundation of my faith.
While looking for a new place to call it “office” my wife suggested, “If the Lord gives us a good apartment, why not do your office work here, have visitors over, your secretary visit, and have a Bible study here.” At first I was slightly dubious but considering the amount of traveling, the rent fee (up to this point, my partners in faith had rented out the place free graciously) would be too much so I had taken that suggestion gladly in hindsight.
This is the final place for me to rest while being faithful in His work as I promise this to my self, I close out this memoir. Give glory to the Lord! Hallelujah!
(December 31, 2018) |
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Why? 
In My Final Residence ((寓居處)