I saw Mr. Wade today. For the first time in a long time, nearly 30 months of time. The meeting was so unexpected and in the midst of unexpectedness so profound. There's always something special about accidental run-in reunions; the way that two people's paths cross at the exact right place and right time at one select instant in infinity, just like the way their friendship began in the first place - a meaningful meeting in a moment of eternity.
Mr. Wade was always an inspirational teacher to me. He was just a junior high gym instructor, but made a big impact on me nonetheless. I just remember how he would joke with the popular kids, like basketball coaches tend to selectively do to their students. Yet, Mr. Wade still made sure to always talk to me. And I'll forever appreciate that; he saw something in me that I couldn't see in myself at the time - and that's what distinguishes an impactful teacher from an ordinary teacher. And I figured I'd never forget him, but I guess the whole lack of seeing him every school day - like any other relationship with a lack of physically seeing a person does - changed things that shouldn't have been changed.
I'm not sure how I let him leave my memory so easily, but the truth is I let it happen. Seeing him for the first time in forever, the conversation amounted to about a few minutes of simple, short, surface-level stories of life's current situation, but even a conversation like that was comforting. It's really the past and the memories that gives the meeting meaning. Because no matter how much someone changes, those memories will stay the same.
And the memories rushed back in. At that moment, he made me realize how quickly someone can be removed from your life, and yet how easily they can come back into it.
I saw Mr. Wade today. And I won't let him go so easily this time around.
(Names changed for privacy)
