A wise man turns to a layman who is plagued with emotion by the path and opinions of those in his life. The wise man calls out, “why do you dare dance with destiny? The most high brings people into your life for a reason, and no sooner removes a friend now turned foe. Don’t question the hand of time and the actions of your Creator.” The man plagued with raw emotion, sat in the midst of the wise man pondering this very thought, “Do you dare question destiny, for every time I resist the natural order of my life, it all falls apart before my very eyes,” were the words projected out in the subconscious thought of the once flustered gentlemen.
As my mind creates the scenario mentioned above from the depths of my imagination, an allegory projects out from my conscious thought. As the thought manifests itself, my mind shifts the arrow and flow of time backwards, and we emerge at a time and place, a setting. The setting appears in my mind as the words flow from thought to key. I am in Nice, France, exiting a plane, then anxiously walking toward baggage claim. As I manage to grab my bag and bid farewell to my American friends who I met at the Paris airport, and now again in the Nice International Airport baggage claim area. As I exit the airport, I think to myself, how am I going to get from Nice to Antibes without being able to read and speak more than the bare minimum of French(its not a long trip maybe 10 miles lol)? As I walk down the concrete pathway to the train shuttle area, I see two young men sitting together. I approach them, feeling flustered and overwhelmed in my mind at what to do and where to go next. I spoke up and spoke out for help, and what came next was a date with destiny.
In my mind I was thinking of the little French I studied in the few months prior to going on this trip, but the greeting I’ve known my whole life came out, “Parlez Vous Anglais?”
The two boys responded in unison, “Yes.” I asked them politely if they could help me get to the train that would take me to Antibes. I was lucky. The boy to the left, Bilel, was an employee of the airport transit system. As he helped me purchase a ticket on my phone, the three of us engaged in small talk. We talked about where we were from, what we were doing at the moment, and finally the conversation ended with my international service failing miserably at processing my ticket request. As the boy to the right left to go to work, Bilel offered to help me manually pay at the machine for the ticket from the Airport Terminal to the main line of the French Riviera.
It was in the events that followed that made me realize that this was no ordinary random act of kindness from one stranger to another, but a date with destiny. As we approached the machine, we soon had more difficulty with my card, but it eventually worked and we were off to the platform for the next train. As I was sure Bilel would pay me farewell at this point, I was surprised to hear him offer to ride the train with me and escort me to the following train station so that I got there safely and with no difficulty. At the moment I was cautious, but as my mind processed his words and his energy, I knew his intent was sincere, and so I accepted his offer and off we went.
Before we move this story forward, let me give you some background on Bilel. Bilel is an Algerian emigrant who came to France to find work to help support his mother and his brothers back home. As we rode the train, he began to tell me his story. Bilel’s life story humbled me and truly put my own experiences in life into perspective. Bilel lost his father at a young age, so his mother worked tirelessly back in Algeria to provide for the boys. As Bilel would describe, “My mother is my best friend, I am so grateful for what she does for my family.”
Bilel went on to talk about his motive for moving to France. He was overwhelmed with guilt for how hard his mother worked, coupled with the poor job market, Bilel said he moved to France for a better opportunity. In time, he began sending money back home to help the family. No matter the distance, he kept daily communication with his mother. But Bilel said things began to change. The calls got fewer and the distance between replies grew over time. He knew something was wrong. Eventually, there was no other option, but to tell Bilel. His mother had cancer. While he was away trying to help his family, his mother was slowly growing ill. At this moment I was overwhelmed with empathy and emotion for the young man I just met. Not ten years ago I was in his shoes. Bilel went on to tell me with tears in his eyes that his mother soon passed away from cancer.
He continued his story, but not with chronological facts, but with raw emotion. Bilel felt lost, like a part of him was taken that he will never get back. He succumbed to feelings of guilt for being in France working, living on his own, while his Mother continued to provide for his brother’s while being diagnosed with cancer. As my mind processed his words, I spoke of my own experience with my Mother having cancer. I told him I prayed every night for G-d to save my mother. In the moment and to this day, I have great remorse for Bilel, for I don’t know what I would do if I lost my Mother so soon.
As the energy between us began to grow, I talked to Bilel about things that no one can take from oneself, and that is love and memories. People may be taken from their body, and laid to rest, but the memories, words, and love that they gave you lives on forever. As these words spoke from my tongue to lips, a smile emerged from Bilel’s face. I continued, “The memory of your Mother lives inside of you. Close your eyes and she is always there smiling.” As the train ride ended, and it was our stop to get off, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I knew this moment was by fate, and I knew this boy needed me now more than ever.
As we exited the train, Bilel was nice enough to carry my luggage for me. I offered him money, but he respectfully declined. As we walked across the street to another adjacent road, the conversation switched to faith. I told him my faith is the most important part of my life. I continued the conversation, “The most important part of faith to me is to have faith in yourself , and to have faith in what Created you.”
He replied by commenting on how he liked my remark. I told him I had learned a lot about the Q’uran from my friend’s father, a Doctor in Religious Studies from Nigeria. I went on to tell him about what I learned from them man. He told me the Q’uran is about preaching peace and understanding of others, and went on to say Isaac and Ismael were brothers, yet overtime they have fought with one another over and over again and For What?
I could see the passion pour from his lips, as he spoke. Bilel had been an empty soul that was slowly coming alive. As we approached the regional train station, Bilel asked the clerk for information on the train. We soon walked to the machine just outside the ticket station. I remember the sun baking down on my white skin, slowly roasting. An officer at the train station assisted us in purchasing the ticket, and finally I had my ticket to Antibes. Bilel carried and held my bag until the train arrived. We discussed meeting in Nice before I went back to London, but I ended up flying from Milan back to London before going back home to the United States.
For the rest of the trip, I kept in contact with Bilel through WhatsApp. He thanked me for the words of encouragement, and that he was now in a better place. I lost contact with Bilel after deleting all my messages in my WhatsApp, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t find his name in my Contacts. I couldn’t remember how to spell his name. As time progressed, Bilel found me on Instagram and began following me. At that moment I was excited to finally talk to my friend again. I told him that it was destiny that brought us together on that day at the airport, and he soon agreed. He told me it was quite the occasion to know a good friend and person. He said he learned a lot from me from religion, life, moms, to goals and plans. He plans on studying business management next fall, and that he still sends money home to his brothers.
It is those people you come across in life that change one’s whole perspective on one’s own life. Whether it be by random coincidence or by way of fate, my encounter with Bilel did just that. In my mind I can’t help but think, “This boy lost his father at an early age as well as his mother all while moving to a foreign country to help her, and still has the energy and mindset to continue on while he was in agony inside.” I thought about my own life and my own problems, and they all seemed so miniscule compared to what I have or was going through. A moment that was so stressful for me as I exited the airport all melted away as the conversation with Bilel progressed, and for that I call it “A Date with Destiny.”
No comments:
Post a Comment