What permanent pages look like.

A farewell, and a tribute

To My Thirties

2016-2026

Thank you for being fierce, being lost, and never settling.

This decade began with a pocketful of dreams in a backpack and a hard-seat train ticket to an unfamiliar city.

Happy graduation, and take care

To Yao, at twenty-two

June 23, 2026

May the seas be calm when you set sail; if storms arise, may you hold the helm steady.

Yao walked out of the school gates clutching her old sticker-covered guitar. Behind her was Room 302, where she spent four years, and a half-finished bottle of soda left on the desk.

To your eighteen-year-old self

Xiaohe Lu

Written in 2026 · when you were three

May you still love this world when you open this.

As I write this, you are asleep in your little bed, clutching the stuffed bear with the missing ear. Right now, you speak only two or three short words.