I know I’ve previously written a blog about an amazing sequence of coincidences that happened to me, but something new has happened recently that makes me write again.
I lived in Moorhouse Road up until the age of six, and at the age of eleven I went to a school that had a “House” system. I became a member of Moor House at that school. Many years afterwards, I left college to begin a six-month residential training course at a building by the name of Moor House.
Yes, I know that all this would hardly be considered as the most amazing sequence of coincidences, but please bear with me...
Two weeks ago, an old colleague of mine, David, whom I had last seen twenty years ago, made contact with me again via Skype. We’d worked together for many years as software developers for a firm of international chartered accountants. During our conversation he happened to mention that his son had followed in our footsteps and was now working as a software developer for an international bank.
That certainly sparked my interest, because my son also works as a software developer for a bank. And would you believe it - it emerged that both our sons work for the same bank, in the same building in London!
The building where our sons work is in Canary Wharf. And later in our conversation it transpired that David had recently returned from a holiday in the Canary Islands. And as you know, I live in the Canary Islands, and unbeknown to either of us, we had visited the same island, and been in the same building, at the same time last December.
I really must return that Skype telephone call soon.
You see, I’m wondering if my friend David Moorhouse and I have even more in common than we already know…
:-)
8 years ago
19 comments:
I'd love to hear your stories of amazing coincidences. Do you shrug them off? Do you find them spooky? Do you think they are "preordained" in some way? Or do you smile at the magic hand of chance?
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That really is incredible!!
Did I ever tell you about my brother and my cousin and the painted desert? Just asking, so I don't bore you by repeating it here.
I don't think you have told us! What happened?
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Good heavens CI - astonishing stuff!
Amazing coincidences are Wonderfully Spooky. '...more in common...?' Yes! In a previous life you were probably twins. Or you arrived on earth together from the other end of the universe to Save Us! There's no time to lose!
Expat, you Fiend! No you didn't, and Please do!
Dolores, I love you! I detect that you too, listened to the Goon Show in your errant youth! (I liked Bluebottle best, and Moriarty, and Journey into Space and Bridget Bardo).
Expat, please tell the story!
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Well, if you insist. This was a number of years ago now and I’m not as crystal clear on the smaller details as I was once. My brother and his wife, who as you know live in Australia, embarked on the trip of a lifetime. …two months in England, six weeks here in the USA (first with us then travelling to the West Coast), then departing from LA for Hawaii before returning home. My Mother and sister planned a big party to welcome them home to the UK and I flew in to surprise my brother and sister-in-law. It was the first time we had all been together in many years.
A guest at the party was Jackie. We all grew up together and thought ourselves cousins (though I’ve more recently discovered the connection was not that close). My brother had not seen her since she was about 12 years old or so. They chatted, of course, but I imagine mostly about old times.
Six thousand miles away and a couple of months later…
A last-minute addition to my brother’s itinerary while in California and near the end of their grand tour was a coach trip to the Painted Desert. Their coach stopped at a truck stop for a loo break or something. Other coaches were pulling in. As my brother and his wife got off their bus, who should get off the bus opposite at the exact same moment but Jackie and her husband!!
Neither party had discussed their travel plans with the other. Had they not they met as adults at the party, they would have never have recognized each other.
Spooky.
Good Heavens, Expat - that's really freaky!
They'd obviously been brought together by a masterful Entity, but to what end??
I wonder if they feel a deeper connection since then, or a hint of special powers waiting for the call...
CI, oh Fond Memories of the Goons...
And we journied merrily into Space with Kermit & Miss Piggy - I had a flatmate who was prone to a terrifyingly convincing Miss P, with a couple of matchbox lids.
That’s a wonderful story, Expat, about an amazing and magical coincidence. I’d have loved to be there, to see how everybody reacted!
This has made me start wondering to what extent we may all have some connections that we aren’t consciously aware of. There’s always the possibility that we’ve been in the same place at the same time, isn’t there? Or that we have a mutual friend? Or perhaps we have a friend who has a friend who has some connection to another one of us?
The possibilities seem endless!
How about you, Dolores? I bet you've got a story too!
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Yes indeed, CI! and just this afternoon!
On our supermarket foray, I shot hotfoot to the books bit to look for another Michael Connelly detective thriller - translated into French they're my favourite way to learn.
Well, guess what! There was but one detective thriller on the Promo shelf, it was a Michael, and it was called "L'épouvantail" - The Scarecrow. The AMAZING coincidence is that I only learnt that word yesterday!!!
What drew me to a title I didn't know existed, just in time to buy the last copy and less than 24 hours after I'd realise what it was about??
Oh, all right - I haven't got any proper coincidences... (she blubbered). I'm very fond of other people's though.
Dolores, that is a VERY valid coincidence!!
PS: I love Michael Connelly, too.
Dolores, were you drawn to the title because you were looking for something that was outstanding in its field?
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CI, I missed that the first time around...your friend's name is Moorhouse! Real life has more twists and turns than the best fiction, doesn't it.
Expat, I'm really chuffed to know you gave the blog a second look! And you are so right about real life's twists and turns. My life has been full of them.
I recruited Dave into the company back in 1975, and he and his family followed me and mine when we were seconded to the company's head office in the USA in 1989. He was there for a shorter period (two years) than me, but in that time our two sons, who were little boys at the time, did see each other quite frequently. I think we were the only two English families living in the whole of Arkansas at the time!
Just think - if David hadn't traced me and we hadn't had our Skype conversation just recently, our two sons would today be unaware of the astonishing sequence of coincidences (their Dad's prior connection, their boyhood freindship, and their current jobs), because there is no way they would have recognised each other as adults!
:-)
Thank you greatly, Expat - I feel better! Have you read The Scarecrow? I see it's "another Jack McEvoy enquiry" - I'd just finished The Poet, which was splendid.
AND which turned out to be our doctor's Favourite book Ever! (went to see her this week and Connelly was poking out of my handbag). Could that be a Coincidence?
Isn't it nice to have a bit of gay banter after a session of 'does it hurt there?'s' and 'how's your transit?'
(I was only asking her to sign my passport photo).
And hee very ho, CI! - a scarecrow - outstanding - in field! Brilliant, in fact!
Dolores - when I first arrived in Kent, I knew very little about the everyday tales of country folk. Not, that is, until I met Kathy, who had spent many years in Kent before me.
One day Kathy and I took the country road for a shopping trip to Canterbury. It was on our drive home afterwards that I remarked to her "Crikey! Do you see those two chaps over there? I'm sure they were there earlier!".
And as we passed by, I pointed at two men in a field.
This cracked Kathy up. She burst out laughing.
"They are SCARECROWS, you Dumbo!" she exclaimed...
And they were.
:-)
Understandable confusion, CI - I bet they were reading the paper or quaffing a pint or something...
Kathy told me the farmer was well-known for his sense of humour - always changing the scarecrow clothes and making them look as realistic as possible. When I first saw them, they were leaning against a paddock fence looking as if they were in deep conversation. It certainly fooled me!
If I see them again (we return to Kent on 17th July) I'll send you a photo!
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Yes please, CI - photo would be great!
There's a farmer round here who last year made a splendid tractor out of hay bales - bit like Thomas the Tank Engine - and positioned it on the edge of his field for the jollity of passers-by. What happiness he brought!
A heart-warming incredible story, CI.
There was an episode from the Seinfeld TV programme where one of the characters remarks- “There are no such thing as big coincidences and small coincidences, only coincidences.” I’ve been wracking my brains and I only have stories of small coincidences (I disagree with the Seinfeld statement) that are not worth repeating.
Scarecrows are a fascinating creation. Dolores, I’d love to have seen that tractor scarecrow.
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