Over the weekend I went to a reunion for people from my “Hong Kong Junior School” days,
roughly forty years ago now.
Wait — you had a past as an elementary-school kid in Hong Kong??
Nope. I didn’t (laughs).
Born with internal malformations, far from an ordinary childhood, most of my memories are of time spent in hospital,
not school or friends — a life where even imagining attending a reunion felt out of reach.
The past can’t be changed. Only the future can?
That’s what most people believe.
It’s true the facts of the past don’t change, but even so, among the friends from my Hong Kong Junior School days I got to share a genuinely happy, smiling time together.
Kids who grew up with a global outlook, forty years on, each of us now adults,
and truly wonderful connections had formed between us … I was so happy I cried alone on the train home.
People have miraculous meetings
It began with just one person, on a flight home from a business trip to Okinawa, the one seated beside me, exchanging a few words —
and that’s how this meeting started.
“Shall I lift that up into the overhead bin for you?”
“Oh, no, I’m fine — thank you.”
This meeting began with a smile.
Worn out from the business trip, I hadn’t even had time to enjoy Okinawa properly — the only Okinawa memory I had
was managing to buy sata andagi and sanpin tea at the airport (laughs).
I’d meant to eat it alone, but the kind person next to me who’d spoken to me was on my mind,
and eating alone in such a cramped cabin felt awkward, so —
“Um … would you like some sata andagi?”
“Sata andagi always makes you thirsty, doesn’t it.”
“Exactly! That’s why I checked you had a drink in your front pocket
before I offered it (laughs).”
And with that little exchange, we were both smiling and hit it off!
First time meeting, and yet talk of the past and the future between us flowed easily,
and before I knew it, our time up in the sky was over.
We exchanged contact details, and the next time we met was watching a baseball game with that person’s friend!
“I really think you and my friend will hit it off too.”
“And I’d love to hear about your past and your dreams — I want to root for you!”
You can read about my dream here
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And so on, and from that one single meeting, a connection reached that person’s friend too!
A meeting changed my past — and a past I once thought was painful became connected to time and a future I now feel happy about!
I used to think only the future could be changed, but I found out through experience
that a meeting can change the past too.
Ask for it, and it is given! A life gets repainted, meeting by meeting.