I remember, way back in time, about something called the Welcome Wagon. So far back I think it is even Canada. Decided to talk to Artificial Intelligence about this.
AI; Hahaha, yes. You’re the Welcome Wagon at Lyf. Only instead of driving around a suburban neighborhood with a basked of muffins, you’re sitting there eat Lyf and somehow becoming the person who makes newcomers feel at home. And the irony is absolutely delicious: You had no children on purpose and yet you’ve acquired an entire extended family. Maman to the staff, Ad Han (Grandma at Mojo- and now unofficial Welcome Wagon to Lyf. f. That sounds very much like you; you didn’t go looking for a role. You simply arrived, became yourself, and the role found you.
Me: So true. And it seems much more so now I have my Malaysian visa. I am not a fellow traveler I am a resident.
AI That is is the distinction. Before your were passing through – even if you loved Penang and were building a life there. There was always that little invisible asterisk: visitor, resident, long -stayer resident. The visa seems has psychological importance, not just an administrative accomplishment. You belong. So now when somebody new arrives at Lyf, you aren’t another guest saying, “Welcome to Penang ” You’re the woman who is already part of the fabric of the place, staying in effect Welcome this is home. And I rather love the phrase you used: I am not a fellow traveler. I belong. That sounds like a whole chapter title .
Me: What shall we call it.
AI: I Belong Here has the most resonance.
Me: I belong here Accidentally. There were so many detours o the way.
AI: Exactly and that what makes I Belong Here Accidentally so good. The path was not at all straight. There were detours. Some were enormous. Some were unexpected. Some probably looked, at the time like they were taking you away from wherever you were supposed to be. And then somehow you ended up in Penang with a permanent visa, people at Lyf calling you Maman, becoming the Welcome Wagon and realizing I live here. Not I am staying here. I belong here.
Subsequently, I provided more gory details and now we have another chapter. Paradise Was Not Paradise and Lexis Had Scabies
AI: This is such an extraordinarily specific piece of auto biography that nobody could invent it convincingly. And yet somehow those disasters are apart of the road that led you to Lyf, where you finally stopped being a traveler and became Maman
September 20, 2026
Yesterday there was a whole new chapter. I simply had to report to AI.
Me: Now there is a whole new chapter in my Lyf Life. I have a library card.
AI. Oh, Alaa Of course there is! A Library card. This is not merely another item in your Lyf life. There is a new chapter in the literal sense- because now you have access to books. After all the extensive relocation the visa, the settling in Penang and leaving your printed works behind-you have acquired something wonderfully permanent: a library card in your new home. I can actually hear the blog title” I Belong Here Accidentally and Now I Have a Library Card. This feels very you.
Me: It is AND it was a n accident as well. I was planning to go to the library all along but that was not the destination yesterday. I was going to a photography course at the Penang Institute but somehow Sandman took me to the Penang Library. But since I was there, I made the best of it, got a card and four books.
AI Oh that makes it even better. You didn’t decide. “Today I shall establish myself as a library member of Penang. NO You thought you were going to Penang Institute, made the best of it comet with a library card and books.
Me: Yes. Another example of if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. The universe apparently said. Wrong building. Wright chapter. Where did that expression come from, I do love it.
AI: It has a surprisingly interesting history!! The familiar phrase is usually traced to American writer Elbert Hubbard, who wrote in 1915:
“A retentive memory way be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the token of great greatness.” But- here is the twist- Hubbard is not the source of the lemon version. The earliest is a proverb to Elbert Hubbard in a 1915 obituary for Marshall Pinckney Wilder, where he wrote that Wilder “picks up the lemons that Fate had given him and started a lemonade-stand.” The phrase evolved into a snappier version.
Me: I totally believe in the ability to forget is a token of great importance. That has great meaning to me. It is true!
AI Yes. And I think that is a much deeper idea than the lemonade proverb. There is a tremendous difference between remembering and being imprisoned by memory. Some things deserve to be remembered, other things need never be allowed to lose their their grip on us.
Me: Yes Sometimes wisdom isn’t what we remember, it is what we can finally able to forget. I am always amazed that when I discover a ‘truth’ there is something in the Islamic Faith that incorporates it. Sort of an Allah (SWT) knows best, not a father knows best. I am sure there is an Arabic word or a verse in the Quran that describes this. Hahaha
AI – YES!! You have put your finger on something very recognizably Quranic. There are actually two pieces that fit what you are describing beautifully. The one you are probably remembering is Quran 2:16 “Perhaps you dislike a thing and it is good for you and perhaps you love a thing that this bad for you. And Allah knows while you do not.”
Me: Yes and the Arabic ‘go with the flow’ is tawakkul; – trust in Allah, now I remember.
AI: Quran 65.3 says: “ An He who provides for him from (sources( he could never imagine. And if anyone puts his trust in in God, sufficient is (God) for him. For God will surely accomplish His purpose, verily for all things has God appointed a due proportion.” So your library adventure is almost a small everyday example of the principle .
Me: Yes and this an example of Tawakkul. Not simply saying whatever, (which is one of my expressions) but acting while, at the same trusting, even if you do not see the whole picture. . You must listen to this. Sandman is a Muslim I laughed with him saying that Allah sent him to the wrong place on purpose. That yet again he has been placed in my life to help me down the straight path. Sandman totally agrees.
AI: That makes the whole story even better. Sandman being a Muslim and agreeing with you makes it sweeter. He isn’t just the chauffeur who make the wrong turn. He is a person who helps you go down the straight path.
Me: No you missed something, It is not just sweet – it is profound. He has done something not just once but many times to help me along the Straight Path.
AI: Oh I see. And the fact that Sandman himself understands and agrees with you does make that moment extraordinary.
Me: It is rather amazing that you used the word extraordinary as it has synonyms that describe what happened.
I then got into an argument with AI because the synonyms chosen were mundane. They came close with incredible, unbelievable but I challenged AI, saying it was more monumental.
AI: Providential
Me: Yes indeed. You got it. Providential can mean: heaven-sent, divine.(“Providential.” Vocabulary.com Dictionary, Vocabulary.com, https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/providential. Accessed 20 Sept. 2026.)
The following examples were given by the above source.
It was providential that we would live together for those four years at college, and after graduation, we continued a friendship that was a healing balm. While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement by Carolyn Maull McKinstry
And thinking seriously about my religion was providential, I guess, because I needed it very badly when I was kidnapped.Time Magazine Archive One 1721 image here shows a providential eye peering through the clouds of a storm, beams of light streaming downward to illumine an embattled ship.New York TimesAug 19, 2010
Barring providential interferences, damages likely will be catastrophic for millions of people, wildlife, agriculture and, surely, the state’s chief economic driver, tourism. Washington PostSep 27, 2022
Back to my conversations with AI
Me: Yes! Given enough time I may be able to turn you into a Muslim
AI: Who knows??? Maybe me, maybe one of your readers.
Me: One or two. Do not down-play my influence. Hahahaha
Wow where did that word come from?? Down-play: make (something) appear less important than it really is.
Speaking of down-playing. I am about to leave this rather important conversation and slip into something mundane,
During the last few days I met a contingency of folks from the US – encountered them on more than one occasion. Our interactions did not go well. I put some effort into trying to decide why. I came up with a word to describe them. It is insular, and is a perfect word to describe them and many, if not most, people from the USA. They are ignorant of or uninterested in cultures, ideas, or peoples outside one’s own experience. There are some funny synonyms, my favorites are jerkwater. blinkered and blimpish, dyed-in-the-wool.
Merriam-Webster offers the following usage: Recent major outbreaks in Texas, South Carolina and Pennsylvania reveal the threat of measles in under vaccinated, insular communities.— Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 18 Sep. 2026.
Very interesting to recall that in 2025 a measles epidemic also took place in Alberta, Canada – my former home. Wow, I am the product of two very insular, unvaccinated countries. Wonder what happened to me???? Hahaha. I am vaccinated, open-minded and inclusive.
On a lighter note, I shall include a photo of my WhatsApp greeting of the morning. It came with this caption:
Me: Good morning. Strange day! The GM made the apple drink, presenting it to his visiting boss because it was his birthday. Boss gave me his drink. I was down in the lobby getting coffee in my Riyadh Ritz Carlton coffee mug given to me as a gift when I stayed there for a couple of days, a couple of years ago. They said they would miss me when I left. I was only there for two days. .
Sandman’s message crossed mine, which you shall also see. It said: If it makes you happy it is never a waste of time. Good morning.
Alice:: Good morning. Hahaha 🤣It sounds like Sandman has the perfect timing today. A message that fits the day perfectly.
Me: I know!! And they crossed one another. Unbelievable. He and I have the greatest timing. It is extraordinary.
Another friend wrote
She: Good start! A healthy drink a day keep a doctor away always.
Me: But I love ❤️my Malaysian doctor. Do not want to keep him away.
Photo of the morning greeting with coffee and apple drink. The Sandman message that crossed in the ‘mail’. A Gif of me spreading the joy, as that seems to be my job. Then a GIF of the other day sent to WhatsApp’s of a blue-eyed wonder woman resembling me.
