“Some days are diamonds, some days are stones.”
This flight had a ton of kids on it. I predicted I was going to have the urge to drink heavily or make a lot of noise by singing, laughing or talking. Maybe all. I wasn’t real sure.
It took a while for my flight buddy to board. I sat down, made myself comfortable, buckled up and adjusted the seat belt to the side for whoever was going to be sitting beside me.
Along comes Alex and his friend, who was sitting in a seat in front of us on the other side with his girlfriend. Alex sat beside me and it took a minute for us to start chatting.
I could tell he had an accent so I asked where he was from. He is from Cape Town, South Africa. Very cool being as I have a friend in MV from the same area, used to work with a family from South Africa and recently hired someone from there. He is a sophomore at Harvard. I immediately said, “Oh my goodness, you’re smart!” He laughed and said, no, he was lucky to be admitted as an international student. Yes, he’s smart but very modest.
Alex is 24, a middle child, between two brothers, one that is 28, a doctor in South Africa, and another who is a senior in high school. He came to the states alone and all of his family still resides in his home country.
Alex was a medical student there and at the age of 18-19, he was preforming small procedures. We talked about the difference in the type of schooling between his country and the states.
Alex asked me as many questions as I asked him believe it or not! Maybe more!!
I talked about my kids. He talked about where he would want to raise kids. I told him it’s not where you raise them, it’s how you raise them. I proceeded to talk about my children which somehow led into a conversation of my sweet cousin, Chan, and his words saying “being emotional available dictates the type of man you are” and how we need to invest in people. I let him watch the speech of Chans words and the song recently released along with some videos. I love that speech and listen to it often! Alex shared something with me his mom says, and made sure to tell me to give his mother credit. “Some days are diamonds, some days are stones.” I love this and believe it is something I will carry with me and share with others for years to come.
I showed Alex where I was from on the map, showing him how close it is to North Carolina and South Carolina. He said they were traveling somewhere close to North Carolina. Come to find out, Alex, his friend and girlfriend were traveling from Boston to Atlanta heading to Sky Valley! What!? Are you serious? Sky Valley!?!! His friends girlfriends family has a house there. Crazy small world it is indeed!!
Surprisingly, the kids on this flight (and there were several) were very well behaved which did not require me drinking heavily although Alex and I opted to cheers with one beer each.
At the hotel now and excited to see the receptionist do a happy dance when she saw me and give me a big hug! Happy to see other familiar faces who remember me from times past. The world is filled with beautiful people! Soul shines, as I like to call them!
