Paul finally reunited with Pearl and Manu Gennai of Switzerland on April 25, 2024 in Santa Cruz. The couple, along with their 6-year-old daughter, were his travel companions in Africa in 1981. They were all waiting then for their visas to go to Sudan. Forty-three years later, the itch of traveling took over. The couple had been on the road for months on another global trip, without the daughter who was long retired with her busy life.
The Gennais stayed at Robert and Deborah’s. It is there that we had our first reunion evening. It turned out that Pearl and Deborah Bone shared a mutual friend in Switzerland. It was quite a reunion for them too after over half a century. The host and hostess treated us to a wholesome family dinner that consisted of soup, salad and cheeses, and homemade bread. Afterwards we drank wine and champagne interlaced with chocolates.
Pearl and Manu told us about their work in the conception of smart city, their five daughters (one of whom has been transgendered to a son), and properties in Italy, and France on the border with Switzerland. Apparently they had made many wise choices in life, including their travel accommodations with residence exchange, a plan similar to, but better than timeshare with a more flexible time and geographical coverage around the world.
Six of us resumed our gathering the following evening at our home. We had egg rolls and sushi as appetizers, and salmon steak as our main course. Drinks and conversations flowed smoothly. We learned in depth why Deborah was in Switzerland, how her nursing degree fit her family tradition with a doctor grandmother and a pacifist academia father (John Bone who wrote Negro novel in America). We were also confided to in detail about the daughter of Gennais, their much too abbreviated transgender process, and philosophy of cultural appropriation. On this topic, Deborah offered her view about the generation differences between the 1960s and today. The older generation tried to change society with their free love, while the new generation focused on changing themselves, in order to change society. We were also reminded of the sobering fact that United States is still the world leader. For this reason, it needs to make wise decisions for the world.
We departed around midnight and promised each other we would keep in touch. First, Manu and I should be connected on LinkedIn. Second, we would share with Robert our orchid bulbs. Third, we would venture out as much as we could. See you Pear and Manu, and see you in the Staff of Life, Deborah and Robert!
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