This is why it's
fun when you document your life with numbers and
dates. Things like this pop-up and it feels like
magic. Like living in a fairy tale.
Last night was
Talya's 10-year reunion...
We got
all spifffied up (damn that girl just
glows doesn't she?) and were off for a
night of mostly complete strangers to
me... but a cool atmosphere
nonetheless.
I was
particularly happy for Talya as she's
showing and her happiness is pretty
infectious. Although the only high school
reunion I went to was free of "look
what I'm doing now" moments, you assume
that's what everyone's thinking. Are they
happy? Are they where they wanted to be?
20 seconds with Talya and you just sort of
feel it. It's sweet. Makes me very, very
proud.
I also kinda
dig "where are they now" situations like reunions.
Even walking the halls reminded me of my own 15-year
reunion in 2009...
Doesn't matter
that I never went to her school. The passage of
time is a cool thing to celebrate sometimes.
And her school
does a cool thing on the Senior Retreat where they
write to themselves 10 years later and then they
receive the letters on this night. Talya couldn't
remember a thing she wrote, so it was exciting for her
to open it up. It was also her birthday the next day
(today) and the timing of "Who am I now?" couldn't
have been better. Granted, I do this on an
entry-by-entry basis, but most people do it roughly
once or twice a year. Heh. We weren't ready for this
though...
...where do
I start. Well the truth is, I started 2
years ago when I met her. I wrote about how quiet
she was and how she seemd to lack emotion. Granted,
some of it was her normal laid back demeanor, but
there was more to it. The answer came in "I've never
known a man to really give a shit what I say..."
And I spent my time assuring her this wasn't the
case with me, I'm "Mr. Communication" and would
love to hear what she has to say. Little by
little she opened up and two years later she is as
happy, carefree and "kid-like" as I've ever known her
to be. This was not the case when we met and
from my understanding, for about 5 years previous.
With that set-up we come to her letter. I'm only
picking 4 little exerpts as it's clearly personal (and
she has her own website for that).
Right off the bat
I highlighted the date: October 19th. Which is,
remarkably, the day we met nine years later. We both
looked at each other in disbelief. The bulk of the
letter can be summed up in this next part:
Granted, a lot of
it is what we all believe at 17 before life beats you
down a bit, but what struck me is just how much
she had lost this by the time I met her. Sing and
dance? Be a kid forever? Be happy? You can do
anything? That was not the woman I met. I started
getting emotional as I read through it because it
was clear she was back to this person and I
knew I had inspired her. In fact she read it all
through and handed it to me literally crying
which is something Talya rarely does. You'll know why
in just a moment. The next part is just
cute...
Remember when 2012
seemed like forever away? And yes hon, you will be
married - twice in fact! LMAO. The next part is what
made both of us sit at the reunion wiping away tears
and shaking our heads...
We, live, in a
fairy tale. There's just no other way to put it. It's
as if we were meant to go through every single event
we went through to appreciate each other on a daily
basis. It's spooky. I mean, I know
I didn't invent the whole "journey/destination"
thing but, I mean, come on... this video blog is
and will always be my thing. First and longest
running... it's just clearly going to be my
contribution to those who know me and those that don't
know me. The Journey and the process of highlighting
the chapters that shape you as opposed to focusing on
the outcomes is such an intrinsic part of who
I am... and that's how she ends the letter? It
was just a beautiful moment. My wife, our baby... our
journey. Like it was always meant to be.
Happy Birthday
hon. I love you so much. Clearly we loved each other
long before we met and needed each other to truly
appreciate the beauty of life. We were both in such
difficult places in 2010 and even upon meeting we
threw that fact at each other, but once we let go?
There was no denial. Some sort of "Journey God"
knocked over your tea at Starbucks on October 19th,
and the rest is history. Beautiful, fairy-tale,
so-easy-it's-embarrassing: history.
