December 26, 2022

My dearest,

It is the end of a long year.

In some ways the year has passed so fast – the very blink of an eye where we would ask, “Where did all the time go?” – whilst in others, parts of life feel like they have been at a standstill. Nothing changes much, and maybe that is something to be deeply grateful for.

Because not every change is good. We have lost too many friends in recent years.

This morning I feel haunted by the spectre of those dreaded ailments – the metabolic syndrome, they call it, I believe: heart disease and strokes, cancer and Alzheimer’s.

We are growing older; we feel it in our bones. Yet there is so much beauty in everything, everything. There is so much life left for us to live and experience and celebrate.

Yesterday was a lovely sort of Christmas, the type where we had no real plans.

A leisurely brunch at Yellow Lane, beneath the green canopy dotted with autumnal colours (though it’s winter in Bangkok, with an unexpected but welcome chill and the gentlest of breezes); excitedly buying an assortment of fried fritters at the stall outside Aribica – Garuay Lua, Thai sweets est. 1965 – from bananas with dessicated coconut to pumpkin-taro balls, and eating it at our condo rooftop; a relaxing massage; a pitch perfect dinner at Peppina (balsamic roasted vegetables, our favourite spicy baby chicken and a pumpkin-prosciutto pizza) followed by our usual order of crêpes back in Ari.

Everything, everything is so full and beautiful and complete. We are blessed and healthy and in love. What else would we need?

Yours, ever and always.