A Rare Method Of Delivery

A memorable experience worth sharing:

Have you ever experienced wishing for something to happen for that one person… that you planned and did your part only to accept the fact that it is you who failed and just accept things as they are meant to happen?

To make it short, you wanted to surprise someone only to end up that it was you who were surprised in the end?

Well… the intro is pretty confusing isn’t it?

A memorable experience…

It was July 2010 when a memorable person in my life celebrated his birthday. However, he celebrated his birthday on a foreign country thousands of miles away from his family and loved ones. He was on his vacation. Being in a foreign country during your birthday, the feeling is not the same as compared to when you’re with your family. Unfamiliar faces and unfamiliar place can give a tricky adjustment for you to lighten up your mood.

So I decided to surprise this memorable person. However, I do not know what and how to surprise him. I haven’t been to the country where he spent his birthday.

As the spirit of Worldcup was approaching, and needless to say I am a football fan/addict every period of 4 years because of FIFA, I casually asked him during our casual messages if he’s a fan of football. Surprisingly, football is a casual so-so for him. He was more of a baseball guy.

Baseball…

Just like watching baseball games when I was still in my high school years. I tried being the ‘catcher’ in the women’s softball team but I cannot handle the pressure of being in constant eye alert and the signal synchronization between me and my pitcher. So I just decided to become a player and just pass my physical education class.

So to surprise him, I checked the baseball stadiums in the country where he went for vacation. Problem is, there are a lot of things I don’t know – the places that he’s going to, the timing and his travel itinerary. The probability of knowing is very little. I was thinking twice if this surprise gift is the right thing to do. All I know is his birthdate and the country that he’s going to.

For his birthday, I wanted to greet him and give him a baseball ball. Well, I am unsure if this will be special for him. But this is the gift that I wanted to give him.

Still, I took my chances.

During his vacation, we had few occasions of interaction through messages. I was loosing my faith for the surprise gift. When his birthday is nearby, I felt that I am close to impossible. It is like throwing a ball to nowhere and hoping that somebody will throw the ball back at me.

Few days before his birthday, on one of messages, he mentioned the place of his next destination. Even with this information, I am still not sure if he will watch any baseball games. The chances is still slim.

But for whatever force there is, I searched the stadium where the baseball games are being held at his next destination. And when I knew the stadium, I still don’t know if he’s going to watch baseball game on his birthday. I was loosing hope, but still there was a push for me to continue surprising him. I don’t know why.

Unexpected things happened. I was assigned to another technology in my job. I’m assigned to handle the mobility technologies and was involved in a roadshow technology event held in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia a day after his birthday. Mobility technology is very French for me. My cup of tea is from the backend side of IT and mobility is dealing with front-end applications in mobile devices. I only have few days to train myself before the event. I still accepted the assignment.

And I completely forgotten about my surprise for him. I travelled to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 2 days before the event in order to setup and test the mobile devices that I am going to demo. And, like the usual technology testings, I hit few issues that needed coordination from my Hong Kong counterparts.

A day before his birthday, as I was still rushing to complete my demo, I remembered my surprise birthday gift for him. Thanks to the timezone differences, I still had the chance to send out my request to Rogers Stadium. I didn’t know if he will be there during his birthday. All I felt is that I have to request something from the stadium for him. The chances would be around one in a millionth ratio but I felt of doing it.

And so I did it. I sent out a request. Only to received a reply from Rogers Stadium informing me that I missed out the deadline for requests. I cordially thanked the stadium for even reading and considering my request. I have informed them that I am located in Singapore and have never been to their country so it is impossible for me to learn the policies. Either way, I smiled in my email and still thanked them.

And so I failed. I failed in surprising him on his birthday. I sent a casual birthday message for him and the day had passed.

A day after his birthday, the event happened. Life continues. I was thinking, probably things will happen different from my wishes. And I guess I just have to accept it.

It so happened that during the event, I had a wireless internet access. I received a notification from my Blackberry mobile that he uploaded pictures. During the notification, the event attendees were having their sessions so I had the chance to open up my personal favorite websites and just blankly open up his new photo uploads.

And there it was. One picture that made my eyes widened. There was a baseball ball. I immediately viewed the photo. And I was shocked.

Somebody has actually gave him the baseball ball!!!

I really don’t mind who gave it, how it was given to him.

All I want is for him to have a baseball ball on his birthday. I felt that it would a gift worth remembering for someone who is a baseball fan.

I always want him to be happy.

Like a little girl, if I can just jump and shout for joy during the event without even looking like a crazy person, I would have done it. But I couldn’t do it because I was in my dress.

I stepped outside the conference hall of KLCC Convention Center.

Looking outside the glass windows of the KLCC Convention Center, the weather was bright. I looked up in the sky and smiled and asked:

“You really did that did YOU?”

I was talking to the BIG GUY up there.

I closed my eyes and just whispered,

“THANK YOU… YOU have always been there for me, Dad.”

Funny isn’t it? When we did everything we can in order to fulfill our wishes only to realized that it is His Will and in His time.

Things happen for reasons. Reasons I believe will be known in the right time and in the right place. It’s all about faith.

Doing the surprise was very memorable and everything including him are now part of memories.

Still walking in crossroads, I frankly don’t know where I am heading. But at this point in time, I’ll just follow God’s steps since He already laid it out for me. All I have to do is to follow.

Life is a constant journey. And every journey gives us different perspectives. We can always stop and rest for a while when we’re tired. The continuation will rely greatly rely on us. It is either we stop the journey permanently or just continue walking and enjoy the view. I choose the latter.

Til next time. Au revoir.