Last October, my client Asher who is from Israel had been diagnosed with lymphoma. He must do the relevant examination and treatment as soon as possible; therefore, he had to cancel his scheduled trip to Taiwan. At that time, my mother also did chemotherapy in the hospital, so I understood his situation. I told him that I believe a cheerful heart is good medicine and sent my sincere blessing to him, hoping the examination and treatment will be pretty smooth. On the other hand, I returned the tour fees as much as possible to him and invited him to visit Taiwan once he gets better.
Asher wrote me a letter expressing his appreciation and said: “If I plan to visit Taiwan again, you must be the first person to know!”
Time flied and on a common day of this June, I opened my mailbox and found a familiar sender — It is Asher! So I immediately opened his mail. He said “I am happy to tell you that I have finished my chemo therapy successfully. As I promised you, you are the first to know. We are ready to visit Taiwan as we have planned last year.”
I got goose bumps when I read his e-mail. I repeated it again and again and find myself full of tears.
Although it is one year late, Asher and his wife finally came to Taiwan as he wished this October.
During their trip in Taiwan, in the afternoon on 21 Oct, a Puyuma Express Train derailed in Yilan, caused a disruption of eastern line’s train traffic. Asher and his wife were stuck on one of the trains at NanAo Train Station as well. Since the accident was serious and the Taiwan Railway Administration couldn’t ensure when it can open to traffic again.
In a moment, NanAo Train Station was filled with thousands of people and luggage. The scene was chaotic. We quickly followed our SOP of crisis management mode and kept clear and prompt connection between the tour guide and back office support in order to make sure Asher and his wife could return to Taipei as soon as possible. It was almost impossible to find a taxi since NanAo is a small town and there were only three taxi companies and all the taxis were occupied! In the end, their tour guide, Henry, asked a local person’s help to drive them to the nearest downtown – LuoDong, and then another car of our company would pick them up from LuoDong and brought them back to Taipei. Luckily, it worked very smooth, so Asher and his wife reached Taipei safely!
Before Asher and his wife left Taiwan, I had a chance to have dinner with them. Asher sat down and said thank you for my understanding and arrangement.
“Thank you for being here and keeping your promise!” I said.
Asher answered “A promise is a promise.”
Asher’s wife, Liza, said that Asher is really a life fighter. The doctor told them that the chance of successful chemotherapy may be only 50% and in the end he survived due to his strong will! “Because I asked Shirley to wait for my coming to Taiwan once I recover.” Asher said.
We all know how frustrating cancer is, how hard it is, how painful it is and how much it hurts. Both Asher’s family and mine know each other’s stories. We have established a very deep relationship between each other before we actually met.
On the way from the restaurant to the parking lot, Liza held Asher’s hand tightly.
“I have a bad knee. I feel a bit pained now, but he is always my crutches.” Liza said.
Liza accompanied Asher to fight the disease, he supported her to reduce the pain, they came all the way from Israel to Taiwan, traveled all over the world, I really can’t think of anything more romantic than this.
I later learned that Asher wanted to visit Taiwan 40 years ago, but at that time, it is hard for them to get Taiwan visa. After 40 years, they finally made this trip come true. Fortunately, it is never too late!
Before saying goodbye, Liza asked me if she could kiss me. Her cheeks leaned against my cheek and she said, “I think we will meet again!”