I fell asleep so I lost track of time, but when Kyle eventually came out of the water I heard the same mans voice again speaking to Kyle. He told Kyle how he was really entertained by watching him surf and that he looked really good out there. They talked for a bit and the guy told us about some surfing stories of his own. After we talked for a bit Kyle came back over to our blanket to sit down.
Once again, the guy pops up into our lives again. He walked over to us and handed us a small, pale blue book with the word "Tranquility" going across the cover with a yin-yang symbol draped underneath the word. He said it wasn't ours to keep, but we could look through it if we wanted to. He said that we look like, and I quote, "the type of people who just don't give a fuck". I laughed at that (cause it's true). He said that the book held a lot of wisdom and had always been the answer to his questions. He handed it to Kyle and left us alone for a bit. The little hand-held book was full of quotes from philosophers and ancient proverbs. It was right up our ally. When we went to go give the book back to him, he told us how he'd lost 5 friends this year, the youngest being 45 and the oldest being 57. He told us about how cruel the world can be but life is always good. I could've have agreed more. I felt like everything i've taught myself to believe in was coming right out of his mouth. Finally, he introduced himself as Dom, and the guy he was sitting with as his brother, Dennis. They looked like complete polar opposites and I would've never guessed they were brothers.
After a few minutes, Dom handed us back the book and told us he wanted us to keep it. He said he'd never imagine giving it away to everyone, but there was something about us that made him believe he could trust us with it. He never said exactly how long he had it for, but he said it's been his for a very long time; and I could tell by the withering of the binding on it. He showed us the tattoo on his forearm that had a yin-yang symbol on it with writing in Chinese that read "My life, My way". He said he did it Chinese because he didn't want people to understand right off the bat because it was only important to him. We told him how we had just graduated high school and he gave us a big hug and told us to enjoy our youth. He pointed to us as we sat on our blanket listening to him and he said "This right here is youth. Always keep it, and with time collect wisdom. Just don't wait until you're old to be wise. Wisdom is taking what you already know and turning it around and putting it into perspective. Don't wait to collect that knowledge."
I couldn't believe this guy, he was honestly one of the coolest people i've ever met. And i'm so glad that Kyle and I met him together. The chances are very slim that you meet people like that, and who knows, if Kyle and I had sat in a different location or didn't even go to the beach that day we would've missed out on an awesome person. I caught his last name when he showed us a photo of Huntington Beach in CA that he took. He said the beach and surf were both crazy. He scrolled over and he had a picture with his name on it, Dom DiMele. Who knows if we'll ever see him again in the mass amount of 7 billion people on this planet, but i'm so glad we were lucky enough to get to listen to what he had to say.
I feel like people like this are so imperative to life. People like Dom are so unique and special, and there aren't many other people out there like him. But the ones who are given the gift of a loving, giving, wise, and nurturing soul make all of the difference in this world. I hope to carry Dom's words with me throughout the entirety of my life and spread all that he believes in.
Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the book to share at the moment (it's Kyle's turn with it), but I do have a picture of Kyle and Dom (you can definitely tell he shreds)
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