Small world stories.

this is my nic · ‎03-30-2010

I love small world stories! Here's mine.

In the last 10 days or so of this July, DH and I were on a cruise to Alaska leaving from Seattle. We live in NC, so this was a cross continent trip. When our cruise was over and we were back in Seattle, we stayed over night and got our flight home the next day. I'm trying to keep this brief, but there are lots of important tid-bits that make my experience even more bizarre.

Since we both have physical issues, we get in the early boarding line. While waiting, I commented that I hoped we were in the right line. The woman ahead of us commented that she was pretty certain that we were. We spoke no more than a couple words to each other. Something about this woman was familiar, so I asked her name. When she replied, I really could have been knocked over with a feather! She and I were childhood friends; her house was around the corner from ours. Our home town was very small., our graduation class had 48 members!

She and her husband were in Seattle for a different reason than ours. They hadn't been on the cruise.

What are the chances of this happening? I should have bought lottery tix! BTW, we both live in NC, our home state is PA.

Irish1210 · ‎06-30-2014

I love "small world" stories ~ Thanks for sharing yours : )

Bridgegal · ‎03-09-2010

@this is my nic

That is a good one.

The first month after we moved to Santa Fe, we were on a free shuttle that goes around town. Two women were sitting across from us and were the only other people on the shuttle.

One of them said something to us, I forget what, but we asked what brought them to SF and she said they were here for a cousins wedding. She said they came here from PA. We said we just moved here from PA and asked where she lived. She hesitated and said "oh a small town not far from Philly and told us the name of the town. Well you guessed it. That's where we moved from and she only lived about 2 miles from where we lived there. We knew she never dreamed we would have heard of the town, much less lived there for over a decade. It is a small world.

Oh and a woman just rented the other 1/2 of our duplex until she finds a house to buy. You guessed it, she's from another town about 8 miles from where we lived.

phoenixbrd · ‎03-27-2010

@this is my nic synchronicity at its best.

aubnwa01 · ‎03-09-2010

I worked with a guy (he was from NJ) at the phone co. up in Seattle for 3 years & we became good friends. After we'd both retired, I found out that he's the cousin of a friend that I went to high school with in SoCal.

The subject never came up while we were working together (he was from Joisy, after all) & after retirement he was visiting his cousin, my HS friend, who now lives in NoCal & his wife mentioned that a friend of theirs from HS had just retired from the phone co. up in WA & he said my name as a question & they said "YES!"

itsmagic · ‎08-08-2011

Several years ago we were vacationing in Michigan’s UP and as we were driving along we saw a small sign for a pull-over to see a small waterfall. So we pulled over and as we were walking through the woods on a long dirt path to see the waterfalls, a family we knew from our hometown (about an 8 hour drive away) was walking back up the path from already seeing the waterfalls. It was so weird to have that happen.

Vivian · ‎03-11-2010

A couple of years ago, my husband and I had lunch with an old friend. She told us that her daughter, a physician, had just taken a job at a wonderful facility in NC, helping troubled youth. They had horses that helped with therapy. The very next day, my husband and I met up with a former student who returned for Homecoming. We were catching up on family when she told us that one of her daughters had serious drug and emotional problems. The good news was that they found a wonderful facility in NC where they used horses to help in therapy.

My husband and I soon realized that it was the same facility where our friend’s daughter worked. I asked my husband’s student if she knew a Dr.——- and named our friend’s daughter. Sure enough, our friend’s daughter was the doctor who was caring for the former student’s daughter.

this is my nic · ‎03-30-2010

@Bridgegal

Hi Bridgegal! We always say the same thing when asked where we're from originally--"a small town you never heard of". Since we also are from a small town in PA, may I ask the name of your town? We could be from the same place!

Bridgegal · ‎03-09-2010

We lived in Downingtown in Chester County. West of Philly. How about you?

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

I love stories like that. On our 2nd trip to London, about 15 years ago. Hubby and I were each off doing our own thing and I stopped in a little restaurant for lunch. I was juggling my shopping bags and bumped into a guy exiting.....the guy....was a man I knew from church! We had chatted about the weather and traffic that past Sunday during coffee hour! Just a few days before. It was just so weird. My friend had a similar experience. She and her hubby go to Vegas 2 or 3 times a year. She has a much older brother who lives near Chicago, they call each other on their birthdays and on Christmas but don't visit each other. While they were in Vegas, several times, she saw a man and thought "he looks so much like my brother", "he could be my brother's twin". A month later, near her birthday, her brother calls and they long chat and he tells her "I was in Vegas last month and for a second, I thought I saw you. I almost ran after that woman, she looked so much like you". When my friend told him about his "twin", they compared notes. They had both been staying in the same hotel! They had both been to the same casinos. It was funny and weird but a little sad that they'd missed an opportunity to meet up and spend some time together.