April 29, 2009

My Funny Valentine

Years ago, I met a black belt student and thought he looked familiar. I didn't see him all that often, but there was always something eerily familiar about him. One day, while I was watching Big I's class, he walked into the dojo wearing a school t-shirt and it all clicked.

"Did you go to school there?" I asked him.

"Yes," he said.

"When did you graduate?"

His answer was the same year I would have graduated from there, had my family not moved when I was in 5th grade.

Suddenly, it all clicked.

"We went to elementary school together!" I exclaimed.

I told him my maiden name and his response was, "Oh my God! I had the biggest crush on you!"

I was completely shocked to hear that, went home, found my old elementary school pictures and had some fun recalling memories of boys vs. girls on the playground and the fact that this guy loved his red striped shirt with a deep, deep passion.

Last night, I went to class and was told to look on the bulletin board. There, pinned to the announcement board was a Valentine that I gave to him in Kindergarten. Apparently, his Mom had been going through stuff and found it.

Back then, I had a very complicated last name and I got a laugh out of the fact that I obviously had to write over a letter or two to get my name spelled correctly.

Since the Valentine belongs to the black belt, I flipped it over to his name, wrote him a little message from the modern day me, and pinned it back up on the board. The message. . .

"Keep this. I'm going to be famous one day. . . "

We have such a fun group at the dojo right now. Of course, I won't be saying that if he starts breaking out pictures. . .

On a completely different note, I got an email today regarding a great group called the Fresh Air Organization. They are looking for host families for short periods of time over the summer to host a child from the city. If you are interested in finding out more, or in becoming a host family, please visit here.