So... why did you create the H-Bolster?
Honestly? It started after I left the army. I had just transitioned back into civilian life and was living with my then-girlfriend. We're not together anymore, but hey, life happens.
That period was a mess in a lot of ways. I was adjusting to everything. Trying to figure myself out. Probably wasn’t the most emotionally available person.
Then one night, she said something that really stuck with me…
“Why do you always turn away from me when we sleep?”
I hadn’t even noticed I was doing it. I wasn’t mad, or distant. I was just… trying to get comfortable. But to her, it felt like I was shutting her out. Like I was literally turning my back on her.
Was that when the idea started forming?
Sort of. I’m the kind of person who needs to fix things. So the first thought in my head was:
“Okay, let’s fix this.”
I looked online for something that would help me stay facing her while sleeping — something that would physically nudge us toward closeness. But nothing like that existed.
We both had our own bolsters — pretty common here in Singapore. She hugged hers. I hugged mine. And every night, I’d unknowingly turn away, burying my face in mine, while she stared at the back of my head.
So how did it go from that moment to... this oddly shaped bolster?
One night, I had an idea. What if the bolsters were joined?
What if turning away just... wasn’t an option?
I grabbed three bolsters. Cut one up. Now, I don’t know how to sew — not even a little — so I improvised.
I figured, if Gorilla tape was strong enough to hold my car together, it could hold a few bolsters too.
Half a roll of Gorilla tape. Some electrical tape for good measure. And boom: a makeshift, capital H-shaped creation.
It looked kind of ridiculous. But somehow... it worked.
Suddenly, we could sleep facing each other — comfortably. No more dead arms. No awkward neck angles. No more feeling like strangers in the same bed.
Did it change things between you two?
I won’t pretend the H-Bolster would’ve saved the relationship.
But maybe, just maybe, if we had been nudged to face each other every night, we would’ve talked more. Laughed more. Fought less.
And things might have turned out differently.
And now you want to bring it to the world?
Pretty much, yeah.
Because if I can help even one other couple feel a little closer — one night at a time — I think it’s already done something special.
