How to Maintain a Person They reside in a house that is no longer theirs

1. Confirm That the Person Has Left

Before commencing, make sure the individual is genuinely gone.

Do not depend on emotions. Feelings are incorrect.

Check the obvious things:

Their shoes beside the door

Their toothbrush

Their side of the bed

If these items are missing, continue.

If they are still there, but the individual is not, continue regardless.

Absence does not need empty places.

2. Do Not Change Anything Yet

Leave the chair exactly as they left it.

Leave the cup ring on the table.

Leave the blanket half-folded.

This is not denial.

This is inventory.

You cannot sustain what you have not counted.

3. Lower the Volume of the House

Turn off unneeded noise.

The television should be off.

The radio should be off.

The stillness should be just loud enough that you can hear your own breathing.

This permits the individual to continue existing in memory without competition.

4. Assign Them a Location

Choose a spot in the home where the individual will dwell today.

A drawer works great.

So does a shelf.

So does the gap between two sofa cushions where pennies vanish.

Do not pick the bedroom.

That place is fragile.

Once chosen, put one of their things there.

This anchors them.

5. Speak Their Name Once a Day

It does not matter whether anybody is listening.

Say that when cleaning dishes.

Say that when opening the fridge.

Say that while standing in a doorway that still anticipates them.

Names are structural.

They hold everything together.

6. Do Not Correct the Memories

If you recall them smiling while they were exhausted, let it be.

If you remember them nicer than they were, leave it.

Accuracy weakens preservation.

Your job is not to document.

Your role is to keep anything alive.

7. Continue Their Small Habits

If they constantly neglect to turn off the light, keep it on.

If they left socks in the hallway, leave one there occasionally.

If they hummed while brushing their teeth, hum.

This instructs the house to assume they are still present.

Houses react to patterns.

8. Protect the House from Outsiders

People will attempt to enter.

They will propose moving on.

They will open windows.

Do not allow this.

Fresh air destroys sensitive ecosystems.

9. Limit How Often You Look at Photographs

Once a week is okay.

Once a day is risky.

Photos flatten individuals.

You need them dimensional.

10. Prepare for Emotional Leakage

Some days, you will discover them in locations you did not put them:

A scent in the hallway

A voice in the next room

A idea that feels like a hand on your shoulder

This is normal.

The confinement is poor.

Do not panic.

11. Repair the Memory When It Breaks

If a detail vanishes, invent it.

If their chuckle becomes unclear, replace it with something close.

You are not lying.

You are persevering.

12. Feed Them Regularly

Memories demand energy.

Use tales.

Use tunes.

Use the way their name sounds when you speak it softly.

Neglect leads to disappearance.

13. Do Not Test Their Reality

Never inquire if they were actually like this.

Never compare the memories to the past.

That develops fissures.

14. Understand That the House Will Change

Over time, walls will feel different.

Rooms will lose their weight.

You may notice more light.

This is not healing.

This is drift.

Adjust the memory location as required.

15. Expect Resistance

Eventually, the home will begin to forget.

You will go into a room and not feel them there.

This is a structural breakdown.

When this occurs, return to Step 4.

16. Do Not Remove Their Last Object

Even when it seems ridiculous.

Even when it seems heavy.

Objects are load-bearing.

17. Accept That You Are Also Changing

You will utter their name less.

You will forget to hum.

This does not indicate the individual is dying.

It indicates you are.

And that is permissible.

18. Prepare for the Moment You Stop

One day, you will find you have not maintained the system.

You will not know when it occurred.

This is not a mistake.

19. Let the House Breathe When You Are Ready

Open one window.

Just one.

The memory may diminish.

That is how you know you are still alive.

20. Final Instruction

The idea was never to keep them forever.

The aim was to endure the time it takes to learn how to live without them