Some birds aren’t meant to be caged.
They’re restless, drawn to open roads, new horizons, and stories waiting to unfold.
And like Jo March in Little Women, I knew when the time came—
I had to go. I had to choose.
Not just a person.
I married a place.
I married Tippecanoe.

The Beginning of a Love Story
Love is pure and beautiful.
Especially for me.
I yearn for love.
Maybe even in my bones, I long for a love that goes far and high.
And strangely enough, the love I found was exactly as I had imagined—
but also nothing like I expected.

We were playing in a place as beautiful as a castle when, out of nowhere, he asked:
“Will you marry me?”
There was no diamond ring.
No candlelit dinner.
Just me, standing there, holding two bags of cookies from the tiny store next door.
(And I paid for them!)
And somehow—
I said yes.

A Marriage Without a Diamond, But With a PhD 🎓😂
I had already graduated when we got married.
But he hadn’t.
I married a PhD student!
(I only found out later that the school was called Purdue. I thought it sounded like a Buddhist temple!)
Back then, there were plenty of people pursuing me—
of course, a big reason for that was my mom.
She worked at a hospital and told every single patient
that she had a daughter who was about to get married. 😭😂

But I had only two basic conditions for my future partner:
1️. He had to be from my hometown.
(This boy passed. We even went to the same elementary school!)
2️. He had to be good at physics.
(Because I was TERRIBLE at physics in high school! I feared my genes would be passed down.)
This boy?
1) Undergraduate in physics.
2) Many awards in national physics competitions
Genetic defects: Fixed. 😂

Grandma’s Wisdom & The Starvation Crisis 🍜😂
The day before we registered our marriage, my grandma pulled me aside.“Are you sure you want to go to such a faraway place to get married?”
“And also… I don’t think he can cook. YOU can’t cook either.”
“You two won’t starve to death in America together, right?”Well.
Grandma was right.I almost starved to death in my first month in the U.S.

But then—
I successfully developed an APP to teach myself how to cook!(This is not an ad, I swear! 😂)And that’s how I survived.

💙 A Love Letter to Tippecanoe | Part 1 – The Heart Remembers Home 🦝🏡
I didn’t fall in love with Tippecanoe all at once.
It happened in pieces—tiny, beautiful moments that turned a strange new place into home.
It was the squirrels that visited my balcony every morning, their little paws tapping against the window like clockwork.
It was the $10 buffet with unlimited oysters, where we ate so many times that they probably closed down because of us. (RIP, oyster heaven. 🦪💔)
It was the little country playground with a trampoline, where we bounced so high we swore we could touch the sky.
It was the library—the quietest, warmest place where I lost myself in books for hours.
And it was the raccoons behind the trash cans. 🦝
They were little troublemakers, but I LOVED THEM.
I’d “accidentally” leave unfinished snacks in the trash just to see them come out.
They’d dig through, look up at me, and I swear—we understood each other.

Love is funny like that.
Sometimes, it’s not grand gestures.
Sometimes, it’s just tiny moments that make you feel like you belong.
And before I knew it—
I belonged to Tippecanoe.

💙 A Love Letter to Tippecanoe | Part 2 – The Road to Freedom (At 2 MPH) 🚗💨
The people of Tippecanoe are the kindest in the world.
And if you don’t believe me, let me introduce you to the greatest driving instructor of all time.
I had never driven on a real road in my life.
Hunter’s dad gave me exactly three practice laps in a Purdue parking lot,
and then—BOOM—it was test day.

I got in the car, mind all in blank. The instructor, an old man with the sweetest white beard, looked at me kindly.
👴 “Are you nervous?”
😨 “YES. VERY.”
👴 “You’ll do great.”
And then, I pulled onto the main road.
2 MPH. That was my speed. (I’m pretty sure snails were passing me.)
Behind me? Horns. MANY HORNS. 🚗📢📢📢
People were probably yelling, “Who is this woman DRIVING IN SLOW MOTION?!”
👴 “You’re doing great, don’t worry about them.” 💙

When we reached the parallel parking section, I was ready to fail.
Hunter’s dad never really taught me this part—he just showed me a YouTube video.
I was doomed.
But then…
👴 “Alright, just park right here.”
I looked.
There was one car in front of me.
NO CAR BEHIND ME.
I stared at him. “That’s… that’s not really parallel parking.”
👴 “Just park.” 😌
I did.
He passed me.
I GOT MY DRIVER’S LICENSE.

To this day, Tippecanoe drivers probably still remember that moment.
“Who was driving 2 MPH on the main road during a test?!?!?” 🚗💨😂
But me?
I will NEVER forget the kindest man who made sure I didn’t fail.

💙 A Love Letter to Tippecanoe| Part 3 – A Baby, a Surprise, and a Pair of Red Stockings🎁🩰
Years later, love gave me Hunter.
But before he arrived—
I had one very important mission.
“GIVE ME AN EPIDURAL!”
I screamed it before the pain even started.
I wanted ZERO SUFFERING. 😭😂

The anesthesiologist, so moved by my dramatic request, rushed in immediately.
Minutes later—PEACE. RELIEF. I was taken care of like a queen. 👑
One nurse, about the same age as my mother, sat beside me and told me about her life.
She had given birth to four children before going to nursing school.
At dawn, a young nurse checked on me.
“Are you cold?” she asked.
I told her I was fine.
Five minutes later, she came back—with a pair of red stockings.
She slipped them onto my feet and smiled.
I swear, SANTA CLAUS was real that night. 🎅🧦✨
And then—THE BIG MOMENT.

The doctor arrived at 7 AM sharp.
In less than half an hour—
👶 HUNTER WAS BORN.
Doctor: “Congratulations! You have a baby BOY!”
Me: “WHAT?!” 😳
I was SO SURE I was having a girl!
The last nurse even told me she thought I would!
For two seconds, I was shocked.
Then—he looked at me.
And I was in love.
More than I had ever been before.
It didn’t matter anymore.
Boy, girl—HE WAS PERFECT.

💙 A Love Letter to Tippecanoe | Part 4 – Love is Home. Home is Love. 💙
In the end, love is home.
And home is love.It’s not about where you’re born.
It’s not about where you planned to be.
It’s about the places that welcome you, the people who hold you up, and the tiny moments that make you stay.Tippecanoe welcomed me.
Tippecanoe held me up.
Tippecanoe made me stay.And so—
I gave it everything.
I built a publishing house here.
I built a dream here.And if you ever find yourself in Tippecanoe, maybe you’ll feel it too.

Marrying Tippecanoe for Life 💙
But my love for Tippecanoe isn’t just about the little moments I just shared with you.
It’s about the courage it gave me.
A blank page.
A chance to rewrite my own story.
That’s why, years later, when it came time to register Matrix Kids Publishing House, I didn’t hesitate.

It had to be here.
Because this is the place that gave me:
💙 Love.
💙 Dreams.
💙 Courage.
Everything I am building today—the publishing house, the museum, the Hunter Card system, the dream of giving children a voice in publishing—
It all started here.

Love is the Reason for Everything
I married Tippecanoe.
We married Tippecanoe.Because in the end, love is the reason for everything.
And if you ever find yourself in Tippecanoe, maybe you’ll feel it too.

And Now… The First Challenge of Marriage: Changing the Husband’s Name! 😂
Let’s be honest—Tippecanoe is a LONG name.
So the first thing after marriage?

Change his name!
But to what? 🤔
🔹 Tippe? (Too cute?? Sounds like a puppy!) 🐶
🔹 Tippy? (Wait, this sounds like a coffee spill!) ☕😂
🔹 Canoe? (Now we’re just floating away!) 🚣‍♀️💨
WHAT DO WE DO?!
🎉 WELCOME TO TIPPE-JUNE COUNTY!
(Population: 1 very enthusiastic bride + 1 confused husband + raccoons in the trash can.) 😂😂😂

P.S.
Do you want to see the real photos of all the scenes I just shared?
Well, you will.
See you at the small coffee shop in front of Purdue University.
☕ It starts with “G”.
Let’s meet there again.
Because this is more than just a coffee shop.

💙 It’s where Hunter played the piano at just two months old.
💙 It’s where my mom sat, watching him, smiling.
💙 It’s where music filled the air, where little fingers found big dreams.

Now, years later, Hunter is an excellent performer. But it all started here.
Let’s meet at G.
☕ Same place. Same love. Same story—still unfolding.
See you there. 😉