dear mona…

I want to take you back in time 4 years – It’s Nov 9th, 2016, around 5:30 in the morning – I’m in New Brunswick, getting on a flight back to Toronto. I’m tired, agitated, but more than anything I’m disappointed. Waking up to the news that Donald J Trump was elected as the 45 President of the United States was a real blow. The news was devastating, I had let my expectations get away from me, and was really looking forward to the first female President of the United States following the first Black president – I was hopeful that we were finally seeing change. I was wrong, and looking back I had no idea as to the impact that this president would have on the world. I was in no mood for small talk and just wanted to be left with my thoughts. That’s when my seatmate sat down beside me – an elderly lady, in her 80’s quietly took her seat, smiled at me and started chatting with me about the election…her name was (is) Mona.

I learned a-lot about Mona on that flight, but more importantly, I learned a lot about life, that it is long and fruitful. That hope and positivity can be extremely powerful, and that a smile from a stranger can have a life long impact. As Mona disembarked in Ottawa, and I continued on to Toronto, I promised myself I’d keep in touch with her, however now 4 years later sadly I have not. Mona, even sent me a Christmas card a couple of months later, which she sadly told me her son had passed away. I don’t know why I never replied, I had the good intentions to – and now 4 years later I’m promising myself again that I will reach out to her, and hopefully reconnect.

Right after Mona got off the flight, I quickly wrote down my thoughts on the experience as I knew it was an important interaction that I wanted to remember, these are those thoughts…

Nov 9, 2016

To Mona,

Today we woke to find that America has voted in Donald Trump as president. My Facebook was filled with cries of shock and disappointment and general sadness. I was in New Brunswick when I found this out, and on my way to the airport to catch an early flight back to Toronto. 

On this flight, a tiny elderly woman took her seat beside me and immediately struck up a conversation. Now usually I’m ok with some ideal chit chat, but because of my mood over the news, I just wanted to put my headphones on and listen to podcasts. However, this little woman, who I later learned was named Mona quickly won me over and we talked for the entire flight. We talked about her 38 years as a court translator, how she got this job after being a teller at RBC after one of her regular customers walked in and told her she should apply, and so she did. She hand wrote a letter and later typed it out and sent it off. After almost forgetting about the job, two weeks later she gets a knock at her door, it was someone from the court translation services offering her the job that she would hold for almost four decades, and brought her all over New Brunswick, sometimes driving through the night in snowstorms. 

Mona would go on to tell me about her 4 children, 3 boys and a girl. She would speak proudly about her children, and how she was widowed 38 years prior. She brought up with excitement about how she loves to go clam digging “I can feel them under my feet” she exclaimed. This is funny, as the night before over dinner my Mother had told me how much she wanted to go clam digging even though she didn’t know what a clam really looked like. 

When I asked Mona how long she was going to be staying in Ottawa, her eyes watered, and my heart broke. She told me she was visiting her oldest son who was 58 years, he was currently battling cancer, and she doesn’t know how long she will be staying. This tiny little lady, who I talked with for all of an hour, shared with me so much about her life, her family and her province. When it was time to say our goodbyes, she took out a pen, and wrote her name, number and address in my notebook, and we promised to keep in touch, which I honestly hope we do. 

While waking up to such disappointing news, Mona reassured me that there is so much positivity in the world. I hope this small human interaction will allow me to unplug and connect in a personal and human way more often, you never know the impact a smile and a hello can accomplish. 

Thank you Mona. 

J

I may have broken my promise to myself to reach out and keep in touch with Mona, but the interaction has stayed with me until this day. I think about her often, and hope she is still doing well and keeping positive. She must be in her mid to late 80s by now, but again I am promising myself to reach out to her before it is to late. I aim to update this post once I make contact with her, if that is posisble.

Stay tuned, stay positive.

Thank you for being here.

~J