A Book from Kent
”Sons + Fathers”
I needed to go to Melbourne and Sydney on the 3rd March to discuss Coronavirus matters with our clients. It was a short trip, only two nights, so I decided not to tell any of my friends on the East Coast as I wouldn’t have time to catch up. On the 29th February, it was the one month anniversary of Kent’s passing and I was contacted by Emilie Jones from Tennis West. She said that Craig Tiley, the Tennis Australia CEO, was visiting Perth and would like to see me on the day of my business trip departure.
Unfortunately, I had already booked all of my flights and accommodation and was even organizing some business appointments in the East. Normally I have a priority for my business matters, especially when I’ve already prepared everything. But I asked Kent in the sky, “should I change all of my schedules or just say no to Tennis Australia?”. I felt Kent say, “You should meet Craig”. I decided to change all of my flights and schedules to meet with Craig.
I met Craig on the 3rd March at the Tennis West cafeteria area. We talked about Kent’s life and Craig’s family. Craig was a nice person and we held Kent’s watch together to take pictures. Craig invited myself and Kimie to the Australian Open in 2021.
The next day, I flew to Melbourne to meet with some business clients. I completed all of my meetings and I checked in at the Park Hyatt hotel in the late afternoon. Normally I stay at the ‘Mantra on Jolimont’ in Melbourne, but this time I booked the Park Hyatt instead. I couldn’t remember the details of my booking, but the Hyatt Receptionist said, ‘You are lucky’ and upgraded me to a better room. I went into the room. It was a big room with a living area. I took a glance at the bookshelf above the TV. One book fell over. I came to the bookshelf to pick the book up. This book was titled ‘Son and Father’.
The cover page illustration is someone holding a watch which looked to be almost identical, if not the same to Craig holding Kent’s watch at Tennis West. What a coincidence!
I contacted my friend Sharan Viiala and told her about this story. She suggested that I should buy the book. I decided to go to reception to ask the duty manager if I may buy the book. I explained about Kent’s passing and that I had traveled with Kent often. I also told her that Kent had a lot of good experiences at Melbourne Park. The Duty Manager handed it to me with a smile. She said It was a pleasure to give it to me as a compliment. In the end, I came back home with the book and it has been next to Kent’s photograph ever since.
