small worlds

if you spend enough time with me you'll realize that i don't believe in coincidences all that much. particularly when it comes to my relationships. every interaction, in some way, shape or form is purposeful.

through the years, i've haphhazardly tested this phenomenon...the one that suggests that people don't just flit in, out and back into your world...you must take advantage of each interaction...the world, after all, is a small one after all.

there's the random woman that got into the drink line after me at a random reception some 10 years ago. for whatever reason, i said to myself, "what the hell" and decided to turn around and introduce myself. all this to be shocked when she returned my "hi how are you" with, "didn't you go to "x" middle school in "x" state?" she was right, and while astoundedly perplexed, i didn't freak out. we've been great friends ever since.

then there's the woman at my alma mater who i was always drawn to....i really liked her. she was cool, we always seem to get eachother. she was a few years younger than me, so it was sort of weird how we clicked, but regardless of the age difference, we did. one random night, after going to some event, we decide to have coffee. i've always known she was from my home state, but hailed from a city 500 miles away. she didn't know this. at some point i tell her where i spent my high school years, and she says, "i lived in that city for a year!"

oh yeah? what school did you go to? really? that's the school I went to....but being 6 grades apart, we never would've known each other...but, wait, my sis is 6 grades younger...did you ever now my sis?

TEARS.

you mean the only girl that knew spanish and spoke to me when i was a recent immigrant to the states...the girl that i treasure (but lost track of) for being so nice to me for so many years? yup. needless to say, we're still in touch.

then there's my latest run-in who i suspect may be my next great coincidental find of a friend. our kids went to the same daycare years ago, they are the same ages and are hubbies are in similar lines of work. we keep running into each other in really random places. places neither of us frequent, but when we're at each and every place, we see each other, connect and say this is too much, there's some greater force out there bringing us together. we need to make it happen. the latest was on friday night. i'm having a nice dinner with my hubby and over his shoulder, past the man's shoulder who's back is facing his back, i catch the eye of a woman. and it's her. our husbands meet, we talk kids, joke about the coincidence and how she's found out we have a mutual friend, and now we're having coffee next week.

then there are the more tragic ones - mostly happening to friends of mine. the latest one i heard a few days ago was from my friend who suddenly lost her 2 year old daughter almost 3 years ago of an undiagnosed, asymptomatic brain tumor. needless to say, she's been through a lot and is just so strong and aware of her limitations and boundaries. a few weeks ago, she takes her son (they had another child after the death of the girl I mentioned above), to the ER. there boy has cut open his foot - blood everywhere, but seemingly okay. they purposely avoid the ER they took their daughter to - to obviously allow for some distance and to avoid some re-visualizing of their trauma from a few years back. they arrive in this different ER, check in and my friend pulls the nurse aside, to let her know that they have a bad history in ERs, and to be sure that they let them know when and if there's something truly wrong. the ER nurse stops her in mid-sentence and says, "I know what happened to you - I remember your daughter." And, then she calls the girl by name. way too insanely small world.

with each occurence, i wonder what others are out there yet to happen or opportunities missed. what if my hubby didn't come up to me on a random wed night on a cold january day in 1993 to ask if I wanted to play pool with him? of course! as we soon found out, we probably would've run into each other...as once we started dating we realized all the folks we had in common.

such is the way of my world and it's no coincidence!