Surprise Reunions

Fifteen years. It’s been over fifteen years since those glorious childhood days when my brothers and I ran down Iqbal road regularly to play with the Jon, Chris, and Suzie Adkins. We all attended primary school together CPEC (now called Grace). The Adkins are in both of our Dhaka home videos and in countless photos of my sleep-overs with Jasmine Gamble and Suzie. My family left Dhaka in 1995, my parents having been there for 15 years. The Adkins left several years later. But as I am discovering since arriving back in this country, Bangladesh does not abandon the hearts of the children born and raised here. So many have returned as adults, and it has been so fun to meet many of those. One of the most exciting cases of this homecoming happened this week when I heard from Beth Jennings that Suzie Adkins was going to pass through Dhaka during her two week internship with a rehabilitation center for disabled Bangladeshis. Suzie who I remember as an adorable six year old red-head is now in her senior year of college, applying to physical therapy schools, and hoping eventually to return to B’desh. I spent two days eagerly anticipating her visit, though I didn’t realize she had no clue about my presence in Dhaka. So when I walked into the Jennings after church Friday and exclaimed “Suzie Adkins!” upon seeing her in the living room, she was absolutely shocked to see me. What a fun reunion!