reconnecting with past people

The internet is a wonderful thing. Oh yeah it takes time to surf but it is great for finding out things. Take for instance, people. Back in my highschool days, when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth, my family played host family to some international students at Ole Miss. Two students, one a medical research graduate student from South Korea, and the other a business major from Japan. The Korean, Lee stayed in the US and had a medical practice in Illinois. WE hear from him time to time. He is now retired due to poor health. His claim to fame was he worked on the now widely used treatment for Parkinsons. The other student, Hideaki Beniya, went back to Japan and stayed with his family business. We visited him in Japan and it was a great experience to see that culture. He has been back here a few times when business travel brings him to the US. You know the Karaoke machines that you see in bars? I mean the real high dollar ones, not the cheap knock offs, well he is the mastermind behind those things.

We lost touch with him after Daddy died and I stumbled across his website yesterday. I sent an email and I heard back from him this morning. It was a surprise to him that I found his address and it was a surprise to me that the message I sent through the business information site actually did get directed to him. I can just see some little Japanese person seeing a message requesting that Mr. Beniya contact his sister in Mississippi USA. They are probably sitting there thinking, He has a sister in Mississippi? What is a Mississippi? The last time he came, he brought one of his business partners who had never been out of Japan. They came to Bruce, and this little guy couldn't speak any English. He did discover that food is a language all by its self. He discovered southern fried chicken and blackeyed peas and corn bread. We have never seen anyone enjoy something so much. By the time he left for Japan he was saying 'pass the chicken ya'll.' with a southern accent on his Japanese. It is good to reconnect with people that have crossed your path in life.