of love and life
One of the amazing things about human heart is that it is full of feelings. No matter how many time one may have gotten his or her heart broken, s/he still falls in love…. in love with people and places. And regardless of how tiring it may be, people get angry, sad, and frustrated.
Tomorrow is one last time, I will hop on an airplane to go to Miami. And this is going to be my last business trip to Miami. It was exactly one year ago, Oct 24, 2010 was my first business trip to Miami (it was also my first business travel that required me to go out of town). And when I landed on a Sunday, I drove straight to the South Beach. That was my first time ever to have gone there. The green and blue water made my head spin as I drove down the MacArthur Causeway and ended up at where the 5th st intersects Alton road. And before long, I was at South Beach.
Mom tells me that I had been there before as a child. Since I don’t remember much of that childhood visit to the South Beach, Oct 24, 2010, a Sunday, is a day consider extremely memorable for myself. I had just had a really bad encounter the previous Friday and I was completely heartbroken. And being able to sit next to such beautiful water aimlessly, without reason, nor rhyme, was soothing. And then Monday I first reported to the client site at Doral. Here, in the first few hours, I would come across some people I would come to know, befriend, and respect a great deal. I think it was within the first day, I felt like I simply belonged. Never did I find any group of people I so readily resonated with. They all worked hard and getting things done. But the rare thing about them was that they all had fun, they all joked around and simply were living in moment.
I left for Hajj two weeks after, and when I came back on the 29th, I got an email from Miami saying that the client wanted me to just temporarily move over there. Only God knew how badly I needed to be away!And I jumped for joy at the opportunity. Before long, I was on my way to Miami, on a long train ride to Orlando and then a nice drive to Miami. I stayed at a condo in Miami downtown, and I could see the blue/green water from the balcony of 26th floor condo.
My client got transferred in July and that was the last time I was in Miami. We said our good bye and he left me with his contact info. And that was it; or, so I thought. I was sad to leave. I loved that place. I loved the people I worked with. I loved the work I did. And it was coming to an end- all too fast.
About 4-8 weeks after that July trip to Miami, they finally put the final order to stop my piece of the work. But by then, I had already moved on. I was already looking at new projects to be staffed on. Either way, my loyalty, to a great extent, was to my client, let’s call him CPH. CPH was a different man, a man of strong value and integrity. He worked hard and somehow naturally bought commitment from people. He cared about his employees, and it showed in his conduct. He had high expectations and he was demanding, yet he was caring. I don’t think I ever came across anyone with such strong leadership qualities. His qualities showed in the performance of the people in his shop. And I hated to have to stop working for him, especially since I had just worked for him about 6 months at that point. But all things come to an end, and this is no different.
This past Friday, after Friday prayer, when I was waiting for the shuttle to go back to my current client site, I saw a familiar face standing in line, holding onto a freshly laundered suit. I called out “CPH!!” He was so surprised to see me! He gave me a hug (not sure what to say when colleagues/men do that. It’s awkward). We talked like old times. We talked about the changes. I asked about his new position, and new work. I don’t know why I was so happy to run into him. I just could not tell. But I felt good.
As I pack for Miami for one last time and I know this is the last time ever for me to go down there for work, for some reason I feel really, really sad. There is a bit of a heartache I am feeling about it. I stayed in Miami no more 90 days in addition to making a few shorter trips. I don’t know how or why I got so attached to the place. But those 90 days went by fast; however, the memory remained fresh and beautiful. The blissful 90 days in my head made it through this year. Just the memory of waking up to beautiful sun, and the shiny water as seen from my balcony makes me happy. Everyday I woke up in pure bliss. I don’t know if it was about the people or the place but I was in peace with everything and I loved every moment of it and in my head, whenever I want to take a break, I just close my eyes, and I imagine myself there.
Maybe the heavens will hear my unspoken words and perhaps will replace this with something even better! Allahu Akbar. But whatever it is, I don’t think I can ever thank Allah enough for giving me the year 2011. I know a lot of bad things happened in this year; but it was yet the most beautiful time of my life, particularly those 90 days in Miami. And that is funny thing about heart. It remembers the good time a lot longer than it remembers the bad times. But the good times that it remembers, it takes you a long way with that good memory!
