Meet Melisa Eugenio, the first human Genesis Card. Melisa and I go back to 1994, when we both were teaching at Gakushuin, the elite high school attended by the likes of the Imperial family and where we both decided from day one that we had to play the part, wear nice clothes, buy a new handbag, a new haircut, the works.
On that first day of school — Melisa’s and mine — we were assigned desks facing each other. Lunchtime came and I reached across the desk to my handbag, dug into the silky spaciousness between brand new black leather to reach my silver thermos, looking forward to a sip of camomile tea. Melisa watched me with a distressed look.
‘Hmm. I think that’s my bag,” she said in a soft voice.
I laughed. What was she talking about?
Then I looked down at my feet and saw that my bag was indeed under the desk. I had the exact same bag. And inside, I had the exact same thermos. And in the thermos was camomile tea.
Since then coincidences with Melisa never ceased. We worked together 4 days a week and 3 of those days we managed to wear the same colored top–without any planning.
Yesterday Melisa came to visit us in Tokyo and we managed to do it again. SHe chose a mauvy purple blouse and I had on my mauvy purple scarf when we greeted each other.
We are Genesis Cards, humans albeit, but Genesis Cards all the same. We thrive on connection. We notice our similarities and celebrate them every time we meet. Each connection builds on the next. The coincidences make us laugh out loud and smooth the conversation even after years of not meeting.
I wonder today if it hadn’t been for Melisa and our uncanny way of dressing like identical twins throughout our Gakushuin school careers whether there might not have even been the Genesis Cards. These growing connections were such an affirmation of life, to know that people who come from different backgrounds can find joy and connection through the power of color. 