We would like you to imagine about a building looks like a house you are living in but no one lives there, then can you call it a ‘home’? Before you give the answer to the question, please follow the story of Khun Mae Poonpon and Khun Po Somsak or Mae(Mom) Tiw and Po(Dad) Sak. They live with Bew, their 17 years old niece in a big mansion. The mansion is so big that it can be a place for a big family. Mae Tiw is an early retired teacher, now a housewife and farmer, told us about the background of the house.


         “They planned to build a house for themselves, she told us about her daughter and her son-in-law. But they changed their mind when his little son grew up. They bought a condo in Bangkok and moved to lived there so their son could attended a school in Bangkok.”Khun Penprapa, Mae Tiw’s daughter married Khun Stick Byorkwik, a Norwagian, who took an early retire from his work but still an advisor and a share holder in the company he used to work with. They had a son, Alex, who will be 5 years old in the coming April.       

          “When stayed here, he was crazy about his son. He bought his son a lot of toys as same as when they are in Bangkok. I always think of my nephew. Now he speaks English well. He speaks English with his father and at school so when he comes here he speaks English with me. Last week he came and stayed for a week. They usually come on long holidays. I always talk with him on phone.” Mat Tiw told us.
  To build a big house like this is not easy for both the owner and the builder. But what Mae Tiw expressed her feeling about having PD build the house made us proud. “ When the house was newly completed we made merit for our new house. Many guests attended the ceremony and wanted to have a look at the house and have the same builder build theirs. When a neighbor wanted to have a local contractor build his house I recommend PD to him but he didn’t believe me and followed his cousin’s advice to have a local contractor build his house. When the construction completed he felt sorry because the house was not what he expected and nothing can be remedied.”
 

        The story of the house is quite interesting. Mae Tiw told us that Khun Stick selected a design from CD and made a decision to build a big house so it would be convenient when his cousins came to visit him. While constructing the house, there was an old wooden house in front of this one and we stayed there. He visited the worksite and told the workers to correct what were wrong. When completed, it was okay but it was very big and she said she was tired of cleaning the house. When her daughter stayed here, she hired a maid to do the house work but when they went away she did it herself. She hired someone to care her garden. Her husband helped her for the house work.
   The story of this house seems strange because it doesn’t come from the owner so we don’t know exactly what was behind the decision to build such a big house like this. However, when we come to this point, the reader can imagine that if a building is called ‘home’, the dweller must give value and meaning of it. The building, big or small, if no one lives in, is worthless. There is an old saying “House is made of brick and stone, home is made of love alone” which can be matched with the story of the house.