August 9th 2025

11 days post major neurosurgery I sit upright at a computer in DC, free of pain, trying to process the magnitude of what led my family and I to the US for medical treatment. 

To save money, the next two weeks of recovery would be spent in a colourful house in Maryland, pet sitting for a black Labrador called Sugar pie and a pussycat called Hercules (thank you Trusted House Sitters!). Unbeknownst to me at the time of booking the petsit, I later discovered the house belonged to mural artist and writer Nancy Illman. 

Where better a place to recover really. Each room in her house was dedicated to famous artists; I would be sleeping in Van Gogh’s room surrounded by David Hockney-esque trees and a ceiling featuring Gogh’s starry night. My Dad and his partner would be in Frida Kahlo’s bedroom amongst strings of fairy lights and an assortment of colourful scarves, and opposite them, a bright pink garage full of bicycles, and posters of famous American feminists; Gloria Steinem and Michelle Obama starred back at me as Nancy directed my attention to the large fridge freezer filled to the brim with icecreams…