Last Thursday, May 4, a former classmate initiated a series of reminiscent messages about the tenth anniversary of a class reunion in Atlantic City in May 4-5, 2013.
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| Atlantic City 2013 Courtesy of Titangos Photography Studio |
It took me by surprise to realize that the last decade flew more swiftly than any decades. Such a lightning speed might be due to Covid-19. It might also be due to a succession of major events that had occurred. In our family alone, we lost many dear family members and friends in the last five years, such as the passing of Lew, Bob, Mother, Chippy, Bill, John B., Ray and Kumsil, and Uncle Luo. We miss all of them daily and dearly.
Meanwhile we celebrated two weddings in December 2017 and December 2021. We also welcomed four youngsters since 2015. In addition to weddings and births, we had three graduations, from Columbia (Masters for Eric, 2021), Berkeley (Ph.Ds. for Stephanie & Tyler, June 2022), and Stanford (Masters for Emily, June 2022). There will be more births and graduation in the near future.
Some classmates seem to be on a ten-year hibernation immune to tragedies and happiness in their daily life. They are characterized by a pronounced stagnation. Ten years later, people like Jimmy and Leon still worship the same success icon in Willie with an equal fervent zeal. Another unchanged topic is the courtship between two admired couples, Willie and his wife, and the instructor and his student wife. Apparently, these two topics have indeed survived a whole decade unscathed.
Despite a common belief that history is written by the victors, I managed to cut through the verbal torrents with my appreciation for Yvonne and her husband Frank who had greeted, fed and housed two couples on the eve of the reunion. Surprisingly, Leon and wife, one of the two couples, conveniently forgot this trifle incident.
Over the weekend, I exchanged my thoughts with my sister who commented that it had always been a prevailing atmosphere on WeChat to admire the successful and downtrodden the unfortunate. Her warning rings true and familiar!
