In Germany, there is a saying: "Man trifft sich immer zweimal im Leben" (You always meet twice in life).
Today was such a day.
I was giving a workshop to numerous union organisers.
After the talk, a man came up to me and said: "You were at the LSE in 2013-2014 when we had the cleaners strike".
I first said no and mentioned a few of the cleaners and activists that I knew who had been part of the strike.
I then asked what his name was.
When he said Ezequiel, I remembered an immigrant worker meeting at a North London community centre we both spoke at alongside former British Black Panther and community activist Darcus Howe.
Both Ezequiel and I immediately shared how sad it was that Darcus had passed away in the meantime.
I sat back down to follow the other sessions of our union workshop. But it didn't let me go. I knew that I had a photo of us three somewhere.
So I went into my Gmail and searched for Darcus and Ezequiel and found that I had sent him the photo on 25 April 2014.
12 years ago, I still didn't wear glasses permanently back then and rarely had to shave.
When I left the meeting early to catch my train we took a quick selfie. I am glad I did.
You always meet twice in life.
I hope it won't be another 12 years until I meet Ezequiel again.
Love these stories.
So cool. You take after Papou.