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Everyday, I drive through I-10 West passing Rosemead, San Gabriel,
Monterey Park with ease. But,
1/1/2006, reunion date of Class 3B, this path seemed a little longer. My mind was filled with questions and
wonders while driving in the rain to Monterey Park. I drove carefully and made sure that I
did not get off at the wrong exist.
I found the house where my classmates gathered tonight. After parking my car by the curb, I sat
there for a moment wondering whom I would see tonight? Whether or not I
would recognize my kindergarten friends, better yet, would they recognize
me?
By 6:oo p.m., "Ding dong", I rang the doorbell. A gentleman (Trach Long) opened the
door; clueless of who is he, I introduced my self and walked up
stairs. A group of friend was
sitting and laughing with their good childhood stories. To my surprise, I recognized one friend
immediately, Xuong Ky To, my classmate and also my hometown neighbor. I let out a little breath to relax from
anxiety of whether or not I could recognize anyone. My memory of class 3B was not that bad
at all.
All night long, I sat there listening to my classmates' childhood
memories pre and post 1975. They
started talking about the nicknames such as, "chuoc nhac (Tiny
mouse)", "Hit Le" (Hitler)….. These were the nicknames of the guys in class 3B. What about nicknames of the girls? I am very sure that the guys also had
nicknames for the girls in class.
Maybe because I was there talking and listening to their
conversations, they could not say it. ;-).
I made two phone calls. The first call was to Phuong Tuyet Ton, and
then the second phone call was to Lien Ai Phan. They did not live in Southern California, but their hearts
were at the reunion party. My cell
phone was passing non-stop from one friend to another. Everybody was trying to catch up good
memories through cell phone. I
could not hear a word they said because all I heard was laughing among
friends.
That night, the subject of childhood had no boundaries. We started from kindergarten up to 1979,
from school's playground to the beach, from fighting to best friends,
reprimand by teachers, teasing girls, swimming at the beach, who like who
(puppy love!)…
I was the only female
classmate at this reunion party.
Most of the girls in my class were either in the Bay area (San
Francisco & San Jose), or in the East Coast. I left the party by 11:00 p.m. bringing good old and new
memories of class 3B with me. This
date, 1/1/2006, will be entering as a History date in my memory book.
As the door closed behind me, I believed the "girls of class
3B" subject would resurface in the conversation among them. Am I right? Guys….
Xuyen D. Soai, thank you very much for hosting this reunion party.
Hiep V. Vuong, thank you very much for traveling all the way from
Vietnam visiting us.
Thank you everyone, you have made this reunion party an
unforgettable memory.
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