March 7, 2021
[English version below]
我和周永沃是小學全期的同班同學, 因身高相若, 總是坐在附近。高小後上下午班合併, 馮啟明加入, 小學畢業後他倆同被派入華仁書院, 而我就入了同區另一邊山腳的男女校。
感覺上, 周永沃一直是自己親近, 熟悉的人, 但其實自升中後就沒有見過面, 馮啟明倒是有間中聯絡, 記得計劃遊美行程還相約於夏威夷見面, 他回港後亦連繫了一個小學同學群組。
直至四十六年後的2012年, 收到馮啟明的通知, 周永沃回港相約一聚！差不多半世紀後相見, 理應是恍如隔世的陌生與拘謹, 但意料之外的卻仍是那熟悉的, 小學時未懂形容的....敦厚, 內斂, 靦腆, 隨緣, 戇直而親切....一直儲存於自己回憶中的周永沃！
2012年那天飯聚後回到小學校舍前, 拍下了我人生紀念冊內必定會有的一幀照片, 仍含你我兒時的一抹笑容 。
Thomas and I were classmates throughout our primary school years. As we were of similar heights, we had often sit near each other. Derek Fung joined our class in later years when the am/pm classes combined. After we graduated, Thomas and Derek entered Wah Yan College, while I was admitted to a co-ed school situated at the other side of the hill.
Thomas and I had not seen each other thereafter, but there was a kind of intimate feeling kept in my heart. Instead Derek and I somehow contacted occasionally in these years, once met in Hawaii during a trip to the States. When he came back to Hong Kong, he connected up a few primary schoolmates.
All the way down until 2012, I received a message from Derek that Thomas came back to Hongkong for a short stay and initiated a reunion! Despite almost half a century's apart, the time and distance had not changed us. Thomas was still that warm, gentle, modest, shy and easygoing friend that existed in my childhood memory, and now I know the wordings to describe that image.
This photo that we took in front of our alma mater in 2012, with the unchanging smiles on our faces, will live on in my nostalgia.