To make the short story long, I needed to pedal the elliptical over many days as a method of enlightening my audience. It was about enduring the worst to get to the best. Many would agree, it was a journey performed on the (H)elliptical. Who I am today was a result of that pilgrimage--I would never trade my elliptical for any other piece of equipment.
The blood, sweat and tears brings me back to the beginning. But do YOU remember? When life gave me lemons, I did not make lemonade. Instead, I sat on them and ruined my dress. So I stopped trying. And when I did, my life turned around...and for the better. The funny thing was, instinctively, with my sixth sense knawing at me like a squirrel devouring a nut, I knew it all along.
I think it was the craziest thing I had done to date. I did not believe in telepathy nor did I understand the sixth sense that was guiding me to keep watching. I didn't know why I was calling out to a stranger. But by now, he was no stranger. The guy with the tweed jacket. Now, he was wearing a suit. Why did he catch my attention? Why did he stand out in the crowd? Many people were filing out of the main hall into the lobby. There must have been 50 people between us. I looked down and shook my head. What am I doing? I need to get out of here.
As my confused friend bid me goodbye, I looked up. Out of a crowd of 50 people, he was looking directly at me.
There was no fighting it. So I did not look away. This time I knew.
So what exactly did I know? Not much at the time, but the wheels of Fate were already in motion.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY
In August 1990, at the Ontario Science Center, he was standing in a group with his brother and close University friends. His parents insisted he go, despite his pleas to take off with his friends somewhere else. He reluctantly agreed and ditched his parents at the front door, after meeting up with his buddies. As they stood in a circle, joking and laughing about how the event looked more like a 'meat market', he spotted a young girl standing with a group of friends. She wore an emerald green shalwar kameez and a velvet black blazer on top. She was looking around and laughing with her girlfriends. He watched for awhile, intrigued by what he saw. He tried to do this discreetly, afraid his friends would tease him for checking out a girl. They heard the announcement that the proceedings were about to begin so they began to file in line to the main auditorium. As people were shuffling in, from the opposite direction, he saw her heading towards the washroom. As she walked past, they locked eyes for only a second. He smiled quickly but she bowed her head and walked past. He did not give her another thought.
In September 1990, there was a cultural show in Scarborough. His friends had convinced him to attend. Of course, his parents wanted to come but only his father attended. They were looking for a wife for him. They had met a few girls but he was not interested. These girls did not match the type he was looking for. As they sat in the main hall, his father pointed out a girl to him. He told his son that she was the daughter of a prominent social figure in the community who was a widow. She was his eldest daughter and of marriageable age. His son stretched his neck for a better view but there were a million girls at the event. He had no idea who his father was referring to. When the event was over, he walked out with his buddies to decide where to go for a coffee. As he looked around the lobby, he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. She looked familiar. She was standing alone, as if waiting for someone. He watched for a minute and while he waited, she turned her head and looked directly at him. There was recognition in her eyes but he could not place her. All he knew was that he needed to meet her. And with one blink of his eye and a swarm of people passing by, she was gone.
Two months later, his father announced that they were going to meet the widowed man from the event. They lived an hour out of the city. A mutual family friend had called their family and set up a time to meet for tea one Sunday afternoon in mid-November. He was reluctant to go because his parents had set up 'meetings' with potential girls in the past that did not pan out. But he felt different about this visit and did not know why...
During my exams, my father, who knew I was tired of the living room parade of potential suitors, told me to serve tea to his friends who were coming over one evening. I was in typical studying mode - sans makeup, track pants and goggles. My suspicions were alerted when he asked me to change and brush my hair - although social mores dictates hygiene and presentation when entertaining guests. For some strange reason, my sixth sense was tingling again.
Is it coming back to you?
I hid in the kitchen and peeked through the door partition. When their son arrived and enter my house, I blinked twice. I could not believe my eyes. It was him. The guy from the events. In my living room, with his parents, talking with my brother. I gasped.
He tried to sneak a peek at this girl. Very simple, no makeup, demure and quiet. Ironically, he did not make the connection that she was the girl he saw at the cultural event. Throughout the afternoon, she did not look at him once and sat next to his mother talking quietly to her. He sat with her brother and tried to pry details out of him. Her name, age, where she was studying, her ambitions and details about the family. The brother seemed nice enough but her father was staring him down. Kind of scary looking. He was aware that ever time he tried to look over at the girl, her father was keeping watch.
He was not nervous. Nor afraid. In fact, he felt comfortable--more comfortable than at any other house they had been to. He had voiced his opposition about marrying within the family (yes, this does happen still where cousins marry cousins) but he agreed to having his parents 'set up' his marriage. Something seemed right to him about her and the family.
When they got into the car, even before buckling his seatbelt, his mother could not contain herself and asked him what he thought of her. "She is nice," he responded outwardly. It was the first time he had given a positive response after meeting numerous girl. She sighed heavily and excitedly planned to invite them for dinner the following week.
Internally, he was making his own plans. He already knew, without speaking one word to her, that she was the one.
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