Thank you, my little apartment!

by Cao Hong

When I woke up this morning, I wanted to be positive. Positivity is the light in the darkness. I suddenly had this urge: I tried to find 5 things in my life that I should be thankful for, one was my apartment.

In Spring of 2011 my mom came to New York to visit me. At that time, our main residence was in Scarsdale, NY, about 20 miles away from New York City. I booked a one-week hotel stay at The Manhattan Club on 200 W 56th St. I fell in love with New York City on the first day. I called my husband to offer walking with him in the morning to his office. During those walks, I planted some seeds of getting a NYC pied-a-terre in my husband’s head. I decided to look into real estate. What attracted me to this apartment was the location, the size, the character and price. It was located between Park Ave and Lexington Ave on 38th St., in the heart of NYC. The building was built in 1924.  It has only 25 units on ten-floors: three units on each floor from level 1 to 8 and a penthouse occupying at the entire 9th floor and a guest apartment on the 10th floor. The building has a dark red brick façade which mixes nicely together with the architectural style in the neighborhood. This 650-sf one bedroom apartment is tucked in the back of the building. It has 3 exposures and 3 walls. All this means there is no common wall connecting us with the other two apartments on our floor. We bought the apartment on May 25, 2011. We used it as a second home for 5 years, then as our main home since Aug 26, 2016.

A house is like a person. It is not a person’s external appearance, which makes that person. It is his or her soul. My apartment has a soul. Since my apartment is tucked away in the back of my building, away from streets, my apartment is rather quiet. This is the first merit of my apartment. While self-isolating in my apartment during the lockdown, I discovered even more merits: my apartment is located in a small building with 25 units and 36 residents. It is true that small is beautiful. It reduces the chance of getting coronavirus. My apartment also does not share walls with our neighbors. It is almost like living in a house without neighboring walls, which makes me feel very safe and well-protected. My apartment has four functional rooms: living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. During weekdays while my husband has been WFH in our living room, I have been staying in my comfortable bed reading and writing and monitoring earthly affairs. During the day, besides having lunch with him, we have maintained our own individual interests and spaces. We don’t have any interactions nor interfere with each other. At night, together, we have our dinner, play our games, listen to audiobooks, watch our favorite movies and read our own books. This is just as in our pre-coronavirus days. The quality of our married life has actually improved a little bit because we have seen and supported each other more, and have kept each other positive and sane.

The best part of my apartment is that it comes with a utilitarian rooftop. I have been visiting the rooftop twice a day seven days a week. It has become my exercise ground, my viewing site, my own private place where I can breathe the oxygen, sunbathe and spend my solitude in contemplation. Each day I excitedly put on my mask and gloves and walk up 7 flights of stairs to the rooftop. I look forward to my daily adventure outside of my apartment. Without this rooftop, I would not even know Spring is coming. I would not be able to see the pink flowers of dogwood and magnolia trees on Park Ave blooming. This Spring in pandemic time is not only different from any other Springs, but also it is much more. To me, this Spring blooming warms my heart dearly and gives me hope of life, not just death, to look forward to! My rooftop opened my eyes and my mind. My rooftop kept me healthy physically and mentally. My rooftop became my only connection to the world beyond myself and my apartment.

My apartment is not a posh apartment in a fancy building.  It is just a small apartment in a small building, a humble place to live, a place with a gentle soul and a magic rooftop, a place that shelters me during this difficult time. I could not survive without it. Many years after this coronavirus is ended, if I’m able to survive this pandemic, when I look back, I’d probably say this to my apartment: “I didn’t do anything heroic; I also didn’t do anything stupid, I didn’t put my life, my family, and my community in grave dangers. I fought against this coronavirus by just staying inside of my apartment during the entire coronavirus epidemic with the weekly food delivery from FreshDirect. And thank you! My little apartment!”