Living Museum of Learning
The Email We Kept Forever
During our family trip to Vancouver in 2026, we found ourselves talking about Waterloo. I suddenly remembered the email An received sixteen years earlier, offering her admission to the University of Waterloo's Computer Science and Wilfrid Laurier University's Business Double Degree program.
I said, "You should keep that email."
Without hesitation, An replied,
"Of course. I'll keep it forever."
She still had it.
When the email arrived in May 2010, it was exciting, but none of us could imagine what would follow.
That one message eventually led to years of study, co-op terms, friendships, internships, graduation, a career in Silicon Valley, meeting Gavin, becoming an engineering manager, and, years later, introducing us to our granddaughter, Rhea.
Only in hindsight did we realize that an ordinary email had quietly become the first page of a much larger story.
Milestones rarely announce their true importance.
At the moment they happen, they often look ordinary—a letter, an email, a conversation, a decision.
Their significance emerges only after years of experiences accumulate around them.
What was once simply an admission offer became a family treasure because it marked the beginning of a journey none of us could have predicted.
Keep the beginnings.
The first acceptance letter, the first sketch, the first program, the first email—these are easy to discard because they seem ordinary at the time.
Years later, they become the evidence that every remarkable journey started with a single, humble step.