Assume you’re ten years older. You’re attending a reunion with a group of close friends you haven’t seen since graduation. Describe how your lives have changed.
The year is 2023. I am a twenty-seven-year-old executive in an advertising firm with a hectic schedule.
“Dick, this is Ah Wah, an old classmate of yours. Do you remember me?” I paused for a moment as I tried to recall whether I had committed the cardinal sin of forgetting my client’s name. Then the words “school chum” came to mind! Without a doubt! It was the ‘old’ Ah Wah from high school.
I answered warmly, “You old rascal, how have you been?”
As a result of our conversation, I agreed to meet with Ah Wah and two other classmates I hadn’t seen since we graduated from high school.
Before the gathering, I reflected fondly on my friends. Ah Wah, the most attractive boy in our class, would still be attractive. Had he married our lovely classmate, with whom he had an on-again, off-again relationship? And what about Morgen, the bright student who was always at the top of our class? Was he already a doctor, as he had hoped? Would Ahmad still be the happy-go-lucky guy who was always pulling pranks?
On a Saturday at 1:45 p.m., I walked into the Crystal Crown Hotel’s Raffles restaurant. I expected to be late for lunch, which was scheduled for 1.30 p.m. Work issues had slowed me down. But I was mistaken. The waiter led me to an empty table set aside for our reunion.
Morgen was the next person to arrive. When I saw him, I was taken aback. He was a scrawny teenager the last time I saw him. A man with a muscular physique was now standing in front of me. His expression, on the other hand, hadn’t changed much. I quickly determined that he was, in fact, a medical doctor who worked at General Hospital. Morgen, the shy girl I used to know, was now married to a nurse and had a son!
While we were discussing our past and comparing the changes that had occurred in our lives, Ah Wah and Ahmad arrived together. We slapped each other on the backs and then went to lunch. Ah Wah didn’t seem to have aged much. His daring demeanor remained. And guess what else? He was employed as a manager at the Crystal Crown Hotel. That’s why he arranged for the lunch to take place there. We discovered that Ah Wah was still eligible despite the fact that his relationship with Janet had not worked out. Ahmad was the one who went through the most changes. He was now quite plump, with a prominent belly.
Our main concern, however, was that he had cancer, which was now in remission. Time and traumatic events had softened him. His company had failed. Ahmad told us that he was very serious about his faith and that he was not the joker we had known in the past.
My friends noticed the change in me as well during our lunch. I had become more sociable, and they were astounded that the shy teenager they had once known had grown into a confident man. I also informed the two bachelors (Ahmad and Ah Wah) that I was in a committed relationship. I hinted that it was past time for them to calm down.
It was a delicious lunch. We had a good time reminiscing about our school days. Morgen, on the other hand, had to leave at 3 p.m. for a medical appointment. Before we parted ways, we agreed to make the get-together an annual event.
