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 D317: Travelling Pucks

Today's moment is a series of photographs from my BFF.  The randomness of the travelling puck....

The trip home last night:

This morning's coffee:

Shopping:

Time for the lunch beer:

Home with the kittens:

Sleeping kittens:

Princess baby and the puck.  (Should that be a nursery rhyme?)

Time for bowling:

Home again with the demon cat:

Yes.  A fun, silly post today.

Moments waiting for the next photo.

Moments giggling at your BFF from a city away!

Moments D315: Randomness

Today I celebrate a couple of random things that happened today that both totally made me smile.

First, was when I was on all fours this morning looking for my kitten’s ball with its bell in it. (I knew she had lost it as things were rather quiet!) While splayed out on the ground, I found it beneath the filing cabinet. And then as I rolled on the floor a bit with Ma-Ku, I saw something I didn’t expect: my earring beneath the guest bed. This, an earring I thought I had lost while I was on my way home from Florida weeks earlier! I had worn these earrings home on the plane, and when I arrived home to my apartment, I only had one left. How on earth did I end up finding it in the spare bedroom? I was so shocked, I actually went and checked to see if I had a second earring as I thought maybe the kitten had stolen the remaining earring and used it as a toy.

Nope. I now have both earrings. How strange. How bizarre!

The other randomness that happened to me today was an introduction to a colleague’s best friend. She was barely in my office and was instantaneously hugging me and then she stepped back to tell me I was gorgeous! HUH? Talk about unexpected. It was all I could do to find my words without stumbling completely.

Moments second-guessing a lost earring.

Moments of strange meetings.

Moments D238: Kindness & Appreciation

This morning it was tough to get out of bed. I didn’t sleep well and I still had two things on my “to do” list from last night that I needed to get done this morning. (Ah, the joys of a creeping deadline!) But early in the day, it was already a two-special-moment kinda day!

Kindness:

Once I was moving and focused on getting things done things seemed to settle in a bit. I stopped at Tim’s for a couple of gift certificates (finishing my Christmas list - YES!). I felt badly for the gentleman behind me as he was waiting for the cashier & I to process the 5 cards I bought. I turned to him to apologize for the wait and he gave me a big ‘ol smile and said “Take your time. The longer the better. I’m in no rush.”

He was an older gentleman. He had a twinkle of kindness in his eye. He’ll never know just how much I needed to have that kindness shared with me, nor how that took the stress away from me (for running late to work, for holding him up etc.).

Appreciation:

Once I reached work, I received a Christmas card from a fellow employee that literally brought tears to my eyes. Now this is a man that I look up to. He’s brilliant. He’s been in the advertising industry for nearly as long as I’ve been on the earth. He’s a fountain of knowledge and laughter. His words were simple, but they touched me deeply. I impress him and he appreciates me. I was literally stunned. I re-read the card three times before I collected myself and went to his office to give him a hug.

Moments of random kindness.

Moments of hard work paying of.

Moments D148: Strangers Hugging

Today’s moment occurred early in my day. I was on my way to work. Running late after a morning of unfortunate events. I was not in the best of moods, knowing the workload that awaited me and the fact that I’d end up working later than I wanted to to make up for the lost time.

As I was stopped at the billionnth (no exaggerations here!) stop light, I watch as the pedestrians crossed the street. There was a motherly looking lady crossing South. She was heavy set, medium in height and black. From the other side, heading North, there was a young, tall, skinny white guy. He wore a hat and had a bit of swagger to his step.

I didn’t see it coming. They paused in the middle of the intersection and embraced. There was an exchange of words during the embrace and as they released one another they both had huge smiles on their faces. And before I knew it they were already on their way, resuming their walk to wherever they were headed.

That moment brought me much joy today. To me they were strangers hugging. Of course, they knew one another, but it was fun to imagine it. Seemingly completely disparate beings meeting randomly in the middle of an intersection to embrace in a hug.

Sometimes I like to imagine a world where we were less caught up in “stuff” and we were more present with people. The world needs more hugs in my opinion and I was tickled by the display today.

So, why not go hug someone today. I’ll bet they could use a hug.

Moments of randomness.

Moments for hugs.