Moments D520: Random Connections

Tonight my Tough Mudder team (Flux) met up to go over our game plan and prepare for this gruelling adventure.  We chose a bar that was mid-town as it was the best central location for each team member.  That being said, it's not in my 'hood.  It's not in my work 'hood.  I am rarely in this part of the city.

Now.

But 14-15 years ago, I was here often.  In fact, one of my first boyfriends in the big smoke was a bartender at The Duke of Kent and I spent many, MANY long nights in the pub waiting for him.  I even spent a couple of New Year's Eves and Halloween parties in this pub.  We were together for 4 years.  Most of them he worked in this pub.

Random in its own right that we chose this pub.  It's been years since I've stepped foot into it.

I arrived before any of my other team members.  Being the first to arrive, I waited just inside the pub doors. There, across from where I stood was a table of 8 gents.  They were happily drinking pints and watching the soccer game.  One of them was facing me and looked strangely familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place him.  I cross paths with lots of people in my life's travels, so I couldn't immediately place him.  As I texted my team members and tried to figure out their ETA and how many we were to get us a table, I was chewing on the feeling that I knew this gent, I just didn't know how or why.

Some time passed and I made eye contact with this gent and smiled.  He smiled back and his friend, with his back to me, turned to me and said are you "so-and-so"?  I broke into a huge smile as all the pieces fell into place and I said YES and that's your friend Owen, isn't it?  We all laughed in that moment. (I have no idea how or where the name popped into my head at that moment, but it was, in fact, Owen!)

Owen immediately jumped up and came out from behind the table.  A big squeeze later and we're talking about his kids, his wife and where he's working now and I'm doing the same with him.  Here's the rest of the random connection story:  Owen and his wife lived in an apartment just above me in a house in the West end of the city....over 10 - 14 ago.  We were dear friends.  We had many a house party (yup, where we used both apartments to have our friends over!)  I knew them when they were boyfriend and girlfriend, as they got engaged and then married and shortly thereafter, when they had their first born.  I haven't seen him, or his wife, in 14 years after I moved.  Incredible.  And RANDOM!

To further add to the random, this bar is not in my normal neighbourhood of bars.  (i.e. I'm rarely ever there now!) and Owen lives in a city 45 minutes away, but works "not too far" from the pub.

Random.

But the kicker?  The boyfriend that I lived with in this apartment beneath Owen and his wife was the guy that worked at the Duke of Kent 13 years ago.  Yes.  Seriously.  Weird right?

What a complete and utter surprise and, by far, the best moment of my day!

And more random:  I can't wait to drop in one day, as Owen and his family live around the corner from where my brother does.

How strange and wonderful life can be sometimes!

Moments trying to connect the dots and figure out the connection.

Moments when all the pieces fall into place in an instant!

Moments D467: Old Newspaper Clippings

Today I took to myself.  I slept in.  I lazed around and watched the rest of season three of Sons of Anarchy.  I took some time to sit with my thoughts, without action.  And then, I finally roused myself to clean up my apartment that had been hit by a hurricane.  (That took me a lot longer than I had anticipated!)   As I cleaned up my office area from post-exam mess, I tucked away my textbook and pulled out a book of poems.  I'm not sure why I grabbed the book.  I've never really understood a lot of poetry as I find it, at times, too abstract.  Having a more scientific mind than one of artistry, I find some poetry challenging to understand, and yet, I do enjoy it.  So, I flipped through my old high school book, I spent time with the prose within.

As I continued to flip through the book, I ran across a newspaper clipping that I had enclosed in tape to keep the three days of clippings safe.  Interestingly, I had completely forgotten about them.  A memory that slipped away from me.

The clippings were from my high school sweetheart.  He posted in the local newspaper a sweet message thanking me for the time we had been together and wishing me a very Merry Christmas and the promise of more.  Fitting that I tucked it away in my book of poems from high school and interesting that I came across it today, a day where I was licking wounds and cleaning up my space.

Coincidence?  Maybe.  Either way, it was timely.

Moments for yourself.

Moments from the past resurfacing to offer a smile.