February 15, 2013: A Secret Admirer

Yesterday's many social media declarations of love with of pictures of fanciful flowers, cards, and sweet nothings gave me a flash from the past. This long forgotten memory included a gift of a heart-shaped cake and extra-large Valentine card from a secret admirer. And I didn't see it coming.

Funny how we completely forget about life events that are later triggered by a note or picture. Today I was reading a blog entitled "Paper Hearts". For some reason I thought of the sentimental nature of this simple creation and remembered my secret admirer from twenty-six years ago.

We had a large Malaysian population of foreign students at Westmar College. They were a community in themselves; living in the same dorms and sitting at the same tables in the cafeteria. I was fascinated by these friendly fellow students. I grew up with very little diversity in my life. Differences in language and physical features were intriguing.

Many Malaysian students shared common classes with me. I was friendly to all and was drawn to the warm smiles that these students always seemed to wear. In hindsight, I am sure I returned the warm smile back whenever given the opportunity. It must have been my friendliness that caught the attention of a young Malaysian man named Iz.

I don't particularly remember having a class with Iz or sitting by him in the cafeteria, but somehow our paths must have crossed. Enough for him to develop a crush and shower me with Valentine's gifts.

On Valentine's Day my freshman year in 1986, I walked out of the Commons after dinner. I was greeted by the glowing face of Iz holding a heart-shaped cake embellished with a bright red "Happy Valentine's Day" message. I looked behind me; thinking he had approached the wrong person. Iz bowed his head and said "for you, Sandy".

I graciously accepted as he then handed me an envelope. The over-sized card enclosed had a fun Valentine's Day message with nothing too embarrassing and no words of love. It was sweet. I was speechless.

After composing myself after the initial shock, I thanked Iz for his thoughtfulness. He smiled brightly at me. I couldn't help but return the warm smile back. I went on to tell him that although I was seeing someone, he would be quite the catch for a lucky girl. In his broken English, he told me he understood; but if I freed up, he was my guy.

I have to tell you, every girl needs a secret admirer at some point in their life. And even though my dream at the time would have been a surprise serenade from Tom Cruise, the attention felt quite good. Pleasant surprises and unsolicited attention are a good thing. Thanks, Iz! I am sure some lucky girl was very spoiled yesterday.