Thank You for Stopping By

We waited in line for 45 minutes. While waiting, my husband's niece,  Amanda and I were already wracking our brains on what to say. I planned on telling them, "Thank you so much for your gift to this world." I wanted to be crisp and concise. No rambling.  She, on the other hand, after hearing about their Japanese ancestry in the poems they just performed in the show, wanted to tell them she went to Japan with her family last year. "Our imaginary scripts, Tita," she tells me now as we  reminisce the previous night's event. Sigh, this girl with her words. 

It was finally our turn. I gave Phil his book to sign. Amanda gave another book to Sarah for her to sign as well. Phil asked,"To whom shall I address this to?" Sarah looked at me, her pen ready to sign the book.  I said, "An". Phil then asked, "Is that with an 'A-N-N' or 'A-N-N-E'?" I said, "just an A-N". Sarah remarked, "Wow, I like that!"  I could have replied with a more clever "An as in the article "an" or "An because I was named after my Chinese father." But all I could say was an awed-at-their-larger-than-life-reality-in-front-of-my -face, oh-my-God-we're-breathing-the-same-air, ordinary sounding, "An spelled A-N". How my voice sounded so small. But at least I was not rambling, I thought. So far, I was following through my script to the letter. So far.

What  came out of my mouth next were, "Thank you. Thank you so much!" I might have said it more than twice. And I continued,  "We come from a different city,  Ormoc City,  traveled two hours by boat to see you both perform." There was no stopping me, it seemed. Amanda, on the other hand was true to her plan. On cue, eyes lit up like a thousand Christmas lights, chimed in, "I went to Japan last year!" Sarah and Phil replied, "Really? That's great!"  "This is Amanda, my niece and she's an incoming Grade 8 at our school. We run a school back in our city. And I always let our students watch you perform on YouTube."  I was on a roll.  We were about to proceed with the picture taking when Phil said, "We'll give you this poster for free since you both traveled so far. To whom shall we address it to?" The question again, so considerate and sincere. "An and Amanda," "And what's the name of your school?" Phil asked. "St. Paul's School," I replied.  "We will frame it and put it on the wall  of our school!" I enthusiastically remarked.  Photos were then taken and before we left, I shook Phil and Sarah's hand and said again, "Thank you so much!"

Now we sit in the terminal waiting for the fast craft which will bring us back home to Ormoc to arrive. Waiting again. For an hour at least. I find myself reflecting on the events that transpired over the course of 24 hours or perhaps more as in three years ago. May 2013 was when I first discovered Sarah Kay's talk in a TED conference which was filmed in March 2011. What an influence she has been ever since.  At the back of my mind I dreamed of watching her live, something I never thought would happen in my lifetime. It is now May 2016, three years later. Yesterday, my niece and I boarded the first trip to Cebu to see her perform in the flesh. It all seemed surreal. We arrived at 4 pm at the venue so we could get seats nearer to the stage. At the time we were already numbers 34 and 35. The show started at 7:45 pm. From this time until it ended at 9 pm, time passed swiftly, too swiftly. One poem after another. Buckets of tears and laughter lined up minute after minute. We waited for one poem after the next not to end. When Sarah gave us a fair warning that there were only three poems left, we pretended not to hear it.  But of course the show finally ended. We waited in line again for 45 minutes for the book signing and picture-taking. The last minute finally arrived and  the rest was history.

The things I said to Phil and Sarah may have been different from the "imaginary script" I was preparing. I may not have followed through my plan. Perhaps for a better reason. Maybe the words I said last night -- the words of sincere and repeated gratitude, the words declaring my name,  answering the question, "To whom shall I address this to?", answering, "An spelled A-N," owning up to it with no further explanation, my confident telling them who we were, where we came from, what it took for us to get here, perhaps, the words I said last night were what needed to be said, were even better, and were just right.

Sarah and Phil so beautifully spoke,

"Love arrives exactly when love is supposed to,"

When words are spoken, they are spoken just as they should be. When things happen, they happen as they are meant to be. And it doesn't matter how long I waited for the chance to see and hear them speak. What matters is that after the long wait,  they arrived at exactly the right time and place in my life. And this, I mustn't forget, that always I arrive at a place in my life exactly when and where I am supposed to arrive. 

"And love leaves exactly when love must."

Even until now as I write, it all seems unreal.  I can only thank the Universe. And to Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye, to borrow your last lines, 

"Thank you for stopping by."