Saturday, September 15, 2012

From the backyards of memory !!

Every now and then life throws everyone these jolts that makes you sit up and take notice of yourself, people around you ,the environment, the past and probably the future. These jolts come in the form of pleasant stuff and there are times when it is not so pleasant.

The last week I had a mail out of the blue, I didn’t recognize the mail id, it was quite cryptic starting with a SEG, which didn’t make sense at all. I was in half a mind to delete thinking it was spam, but reasoning prevailed, guess my intuition perked up and I opened it.

Surprise is an understatement here – I should term it Delight or may be even Ecstasy. My school mate and a dear friend had sent that mail and I wasn’t ready for the pleasant surprise.

A year back I had written about Networking sites and their small mercies in life and how I found this really long lost school friend here . I remember her asking me, “ Vincy do you remember how you used to hide birthday cards in my school bag a day before my birthday? And I used to wait to reach home to search my bag for your card” :-) funny I used to do that, why I wonder - I could have given it to her on her brithday...Yeah I did remember that when she nudged my memory.

I opened the mail and scanned the contents to be taken to the backyards of my memory.

It all started with quivering lips. I blinked hard to stop the wetness escaping and before I realized I was at it again – getting teary eyed. ( I am a world class crier and I seem to be one person who can cry at the drop of an hat. I am much better these days and thankfully do most of the crying in private. Its very cathartic.)

Let me tell what was in there – ML, my friend had scanned a hand made birthday card that I had given her when we were in high school. That’s around 29 years back :-)

I cannot imagine that she had preserved the card for close to 3 decades, a simple birthday card I had made, but definitely with the innocence and love of a teenager for her best friend then, – she stayed in hostels, moved multiple times, travelled, married and inspite of all this she had it and I hadn’t known.

To know one is loved  and valued this much, is a mammoth blessing. Moments like these pales everything else in life into insignificance, temporarily atleast. Humbled and speechless.

Here is the yellowing card, defying its age and let me stop before I get any more emotional. :-)

4 comments:

  1. Wow. That's a special special moment. Enough to go completely teary eyed.

    Take a bow. That's a very special you.

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  2. !!!intha card panrathu schooldayslenthayvaa!! :)) hifi on greeting card olichifying stuff :) i too used to do that...aana simply because i was too shy to give it in person..and i wud luv to see the surprise of my friends when they open their gifts...mostly birthday anniki ithu varaikkum yaarum kandupudichathilla...avlo secreta olichi vachiruven :D :D its wonderful of ur friend to preserve it for so long and mail it...semmma deeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppp friendship pola :))

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  3. :-) :-)

    I think making or giving a card is a very simple thing. but preserving it for so many years shows some depth in the relationship. and the best part is I had lost touch with thus friend for almost 25 years. This came completely out of the blue and humbled me.

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