It is amazing how the interaction with one person from your past can change your outlook on life at that particular time. In the midst of struggling thoughts and conflicting beliefs which engulf us on a daily basis, one person can help that smoke filled reality vision become a crystal clear scene. Whether this interaction comes by phone, e-mail, text message, or a face-to-face encounter, sometimes our past can alleviate the uncertainty of the current.
Personally, I had the opportunity to experience such an encounter recently. I was able to meet a good friend who I had grown up with. It occurred by happenstance, as I took a detour route home to pass through the old block and neighborhood reminiscing, observing the changes, and in some little way hoping, even wishing, that someone familiar would happen to be around.
I was lucky. After making a left turn to exit the neighborhood, I noticed my friend in my rear view mirror, and by then I thought it would be too late to catch him if I came back around. To my surprise, I received a phone call from him as he spotted me passing by. As we met and greeted, I was amazed at how much things have changed, yet, how much had stayed the same. I was awed, as he served as a mirror of myself, in how much we all have changed.
Most importantly, as we conversed, I was amazed at how the stories, even those that I haven't recalled for so long, seemed so clear in my mind. It felt like yesterday.
As he explained the happenings of the other faithful, it created a movie reel of happenings in my imagination of the way things use to be. The good times. Football. Basketball. Baseball. Hanging out on the stoop. Man Hunt. Wrestling. Making Jokes. Going in the pool. Battles with other neighborhoods. And doing what made our block, our block.
And as we chatted, and had come to find out the progress of those that we grew up with, that sense of imagery in my mind helped reinforce who I was, and where I came from. As the stories varied from, married with kids to deceased, of those boys and girls that once ran wild in a neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, the memories were appreciated that much more.
After the many decisions in life, I have come to meet many great individuals, the majority who I have lost contact with. As my friend and I departed, I could not help but to question the purpose of that encounter. Everything does indeed happen for a reason, and God always places certain people in your life at the correct moment. To this day, I believe that based on experience. And this was another example.
What was it's purpose?
That has yet to be determined.
However, for the present, I am reintrouduced to something I often neglect or forget, and that is my past.