June 27, 2016

  • A Visitor from Afar

    Last March I had an e-mail message asking if I would be at home at the end of June.  The messager would be in Southern California for a quick convention -- an alumni reunion -- and wondered how close she would be to my home.  I excitedly responded that I would be at home, and that I live about an hour and a half drive (we measure distance in driving time here, and that's not terribly far!) from Ontario , where her reunion was to be held.   And I waited through a long three months for the day to come.  The person who wrote that message was Xanga blogger ZSA_MD, or Zakiah Ali.

    Zakiah was planning to attend a reunion of her Medical School in India, along with about 150 alums from all over the country.  She particularly wanted to meet me as well as Carlos Carrion, who also lives in the area.  The timing of the reunion was very short and very full of activities, but there was time for the three of us to get together on Saturday for a delightful lunch and a couple of hours of wonderful conversation.  We covered a wide range of topics, including the story of her medical school,  some personal background of each of us, some political thoughts (imagine 3 strangers coming together and thinking much the same way about today's politics!), and the mission of the alumni group, which gets together each year to provide donations to the school they all attended -- the Indian government would like to take over the school, but the alumni group sees the value of a private institution and is working to maintain the private independence of the school.  For two short hours, we never stopped talking!  When I sent my few photos to Zakiah, she commented that it was wonderful to see the happy smiles all around!

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    Saturday turned out to be a delightful visit -- one that I hope can be repeated sometime in the future!

Comments (21)

  • Sweet reunion.

  • How neat is that!? :)

  • Zakiah is one of my first non-family xangans to comment on my blog. I was lucky to attend her xangan meet up so many years ago... I have to say you are all so lucky to have had the time to get together. I'm jealous - just a little bit. Maybe when we make our pilgrimage to Hawaii we can arrange to meet when we are in CA! The smiles in the photos tell the whole story!

    • I joined Xanga just about the time of your meet-up with Xanga, and was so sad to have missed it! Zakiah is one of my favorite Xangans, and I felt very fortunate that her alumni reunion was close enough to make this afternoon possible! I hadn't known Carlos before, but he was a great addition to the group, too! Do save some time in So Cal on your way to HI -- I'd love to meet you too!

  • This is happy news. I am pleased to hear of Xangans meeting one another

    • This was a very happy afternoon! It's always fun to meet new people that you already know -- lol!

  • @murisopsis: Awww, Val you are one of the most gracious people here on xanga. Because of readers and writers like you, I am sticking on here. I would love to meet with you again. I had such a wonderful time with Janet and Carlos.

    • Malybe we could all arrange to get together when Val and Sparky are on their way to Hawaii next year?

  • @slmret: Janet, you are an amazing friend. I love knowing you and sharing my words and thoughts and feelings with you. Thank you for that beautiful afternoon. It will remain a cherished memory.

    • Oh, my, Zakiah -- thank you for taking the time out of your short alumni weekend -- I loved meeting you, and will also cherish the memory of last Saturday. I'm really enjoying the glimpses of your home town, too, and the pretty little vase!

  • @slmret: it is on my agenda. Sparky wants to visit the Nixon library... So we are hoping to have a few days in CA . Of course it all depends on his vacation schedule.

    • You should also plan a day at the Reagan Library while you're in So Cal. It's bigger, and takes more time to go through, but it's reasonably close (an hour's drive), and equally important history-wise! I've seen them both, but they change periodically, and I'd love to see one or both again -- it might even spur me on to see more of them. Besides, that would give me time with you!

  • @ZSA_MD: I too would love to visit with you! You are the epitome of kindness. I'm so happy that you are sticking around xanga. That makes the xangaverse a better place!!!

  • Oh, how fun! Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a Xanga reunion? :)

    • It was a delightful day! You're definitely one of the Xangans I'd like to meet soon!

  • That was wonderful. I am envious.

  • Oh, I'm so glad you got to spend some time with Zakiah and Carlos. This is the first time I've been able to get on Xanga since I got sick.

    • I'm glad you're up and on Xanga again! The afternoon with Zakiah and Carols was quite wonderful!

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