Motherofbun » We are all connected

We are all connected

Posted on October 15, 2008
Filed Under wierd stuff |

This past spring, while flying home from New Jersey, I sat next to a very nice man. For most of the flight, he had slept. But toward the end, we started chatting. When I asked him where he lived, he said “oh just a little town in Illinois. You’ve probably never heard of it. Its called Breese.”

I laughed out loud. I grew up in Breese! This may not mean much until you realize the town? Is a rural farming community with a population of maybe 4,000. I told him my maiden name. Turns out he knows my dad and bowls with one of my uncles and a cousin. I thought this was really cool. What are the odds, right?

Last weekend, the hubs and I ambled to the airport gate. He had to go to Las Vegas for a conference. I tagged along for a few days. While there, Marc immediately recognized a coworker of his who was going to be on our flight.

We said “hi” and saved her a seat in our row. (Poor woman!) We laughed about how cool that was that we’d see someone we know on our flight. We got to talking and found out she grew close to where I did. In fact, we found out her parents are good friends with a woman who’s not only a friend of mine but was my old journalism teacher. And I’m betting that if we’d talked a bit longer, we would have discovered we know even more of the same people since I once worked in her hometown.

On my packed flight home alone, I watched a vaguely familiar-looking man board the plane and search for a seat. He ended up sitting next to me. I thought I might know him. But I figured I was mistaken. What are the odds I’d sit next to another person I know — especially another person from my itty-bitty hometown. It took me about a third of the flight to get up enough courage to ask him if he grew up in Breese. When he looked at me quizzically and said, “yes”, I knew who this person was.

But you wanna know the kicker? I went to preschool with this man. Preschool! Our preschool class had about six to ten kids. We had gone to different grade and high schools so our social circles were different but we graduated the same year so we knew alot of the same people. So the flight passed quickly and I got all caught up on what’s going on with a few of the people he’d stayed in touch with.

Some people don’t believe in coincidence. They think everything happens for a reason. But some people feel a coincidence is purely that. Have you ever randomly bumped into someone only to find you know the same people? Please share your story!

The support I received after this post was amazing. (Thankfully, the scary ordeal is no longer “scary” nor an “ordeal”.) But I wanted to thank everyone who took time to read the post and comment. So I’ll be thanking a group of people as a part of each post until I’ve thanked everyone.

So thanks to Charlotte, Nothing But Bonfires, Dee, Heather, Holly, JoAnn, Bossy, Landileigh, Andrea, Jamie, PGoodness, Marien, Painted Maypole, Average Jane, Becky, Beth, LeAnn, Izzy, Emily, Domestic Extraordinaire, Mrs. Davis, and Raquita.

Comments

21 Responses to “We are all connected”

Kat on October 15th, 2008 9:28 pm

My husband and I grew up in the same small town (about 50,000 people) but never knew each other. We met in a college town when I was 22 living in a different city in Wisconsin and he was 27 living in New York. Turns out we went to the same high school, the same churches, were in the same swing choir (though 5 years apart) and he used to play baseball at the park half a block from my childhood home. How is THAT for coincidence? Maybe not so coincidental at all, huh?
Beth on October 15th, 2008 10:55 pm

I don’t have any super-cool coincidence stories. My best flight story is probably when my folks and I were flying from Denver to Springfield about 15 years ago on a fairly small plane, and it turned out my folks knew 11 people on the plane. Ironically, this was also the only time I’ve ever power-blown on a plane, much to the disgust of the other travelers I’m sure. It was a very turbulent flight!
Jim on October 16th, 2008 1:10 am

I think it’s all coincidence. The more connected you are, the more this seems to happen. Not very poetic, but there you have it.
paige on October 16th, 2008 1:35 am

how odd–I live about 40 miles from Breese

I have those weird encounters on planes all the time—I just figured the world was stalking me!
Lisa on October 16th, 2008 2:43 am

things like this happen for a reason!!
Terra on October 16th, 2008 6:45 am

I wish I had something for you, but I am one of those people who forgets everyone… I know that sounds horrible, but unless I knew you for years and years I have no idea who you are…
Rosemary on October 16th, 2008 12:47 pm

Lets see… I was sitting in the waiting area for a flight.. I was in my hometown airport (had been home visiting my mom).. a uniformed airline captain sat beside me. We started chatting about the flights delay, and whether I would make my connecting flight in Charlotte. He assured me that I would make the flight since he was going to be the pilot of that plane, and was flying to Charlotte to pilot that plane!! That was weird.. then we continued to talk, and it turned out that he was in my hometown because he also grew up there. We knew alot of the same people, and he is currently in the Air National Guard, flying in a squadron lead by … MY HIGH SCHOOL BOYFRIEND. Very very weird, but also very cool!!
Gregg on October 16th, 2008 12:54 pm

I’ve done this many times. Of course, the consequence of this is that you must always be on your best behavior!
Debbie on October 16th, 2008 2:17 pm

I’m telling you, those Breese/Highland connections are everywhere! It turns out people CAN leave Clinton County after all. Ha!
Jakki on October 16th, 2008 4:46 pm

It is definetly a small world!
Kristi on October 16th, 2008 5:37 pm

Happens to me all the time, but I have one story that really sticks out.

13 years ago, I was house hunting. One afternoon, I had some time to kill before the park shelter would be available for my son’s birthday party and I noticed an ‘Open House’ sign, so I went on a complete whim.

As soon as I stepped in the door, I knew that was my house. It was a small craftsman bungalow built in the 20’s, and I was writing an offer within 10 minutes of setting foot inside after a whirlwind trip through the home.

I loved, loved, loved that house and learned it’s history by reading the entire abstract.

It was built by a wealthy man who also built 3 other houses, nearly identical to mine right next to each other. 4 houses in a row. When his daughter married, he gifted her with the home I eventually lived in.

Apparently though, the man she married wasn’t on the up and up and had only married her for the family’s wealth. Included in the abstract was the fact that this snake of a husband had her declared ‘insane’ and had her placed in the State Asylum.

Once she came back, he continued his ways and she eventually committed suicide in the home. (he didn’t get a dime)

After that, a couple bought the home and lived in it for 40 years, before selling it to the young family I bought it from.

I was only in that wonderful home for 4 years, before life moved me 1500 miles away. From Iowa to Arizona.

—————————————————–

Three or four years ago, I was grappling with a horrible, unrelenting bout of clinical depression (I’m a lifer). The care I was getting via my PCP wasn’t working, so one Wednesday afternoon, I pulled out the massive Phoenix Yellow Pages and started at the ‘A’s’.

As I’d suspected, wait times for appointments were in the 6-10 week range and that was only the the ones I could get on the phone. Most were out of the office that afternoon.

So, I got to the letter ‘B’. Made a call, spoke with a lovely receptionist and was told the wait was 8 weeks. I told her that I knew I couldn’t wait that long, so she offered to take my information and promised to call me as soon as there was a cancellation. (she was the first to offer that)

Twenty minutes later, she called me and said, “You’re not going to believe this, but we just had a cancellation and can you be here at 10 a.m. Saturday morning?” And so began my relationship with my wonderful Psychiatrist who I still see about every 2-3 months.

During our visits, we learned we grew up relatively close to each other, and as time passed, I brought up how much I’d loved and missed the home I’d left behind when I came to Arizona.

She asked me what part of the ‘City’ it was in and I told her. Then she asked what street it was on….I told her and her eyes lit up. Then she asked me to write the address down for her, as her parents were coming to visit her that evening and she wanted to know if the address was as familiar to them as it seemed to be to her.

Her parents came to her home, as planned, that evening and the first thing her Father noticed was the Post It Note on her table with the address I’d written down earlier in the day.

His comment to her was “why do you have your Grandparent’s old address on this note?”

She told me that after she picked her jaw up off the floor, she told him how that all came to be (While maintaining confidentiality, of course).

The couple that had lived in the home for 40 years, were her maternal grandparents. Her paternal grandparents lived on the same street but 2 blocks down.

So, years and years later and 1500 miles away, I pick her name out of a phone book, the surprising immediate cancellation…..and the rest, as they say…..is history.

Dang….I need to post that story on my blog. LOL!
Stacey on October 16th, 2008 7:02 pm

Hi! first time visiting your blog! I just had to comment, I too am from a small town, and I remember running into someone we knew in Disney World of all places! Happenings like this just make the world seem a little smaller… Good post!
raisingz on October 16th, 2008 9:44 pm

My dad is always running into people in airports…no matter where we are in the world As for me…it doesn’t happen as often but I once sat next to my ex-boyfriend’s, mother’s best friend’s mother We were stuck on the runway in a snowstorm and had a long time to chat. It took us a long time to figure out that connection Not as cool as yours but still a connection!
Julia on October 17th, 2008 2:36 am

I was on vacation in Hawaii with my family for a week, and the second day of vacation I went to the lobby to check my email, and at the front desk was my old college roommate, staying there with her family, the same week that I was, just off by one day. Same island, same hotel, same time. We ended up hanging out the entire time, it was great.
Carrie on October 19th, 2008 9:38 pm

That “six degrees of seperation” theory is so true, we ARE all connected!

And yes, just a few weeks ago I stood on top of Mt. San Jaucinto and spoke to a local gentleman who does restaurant business with my mom’s cousin. And a lady from our local bank was on my flight home…and on the way there, I sat next to a nice Canadian couple whose son played for OUR local pro hockey team a few years ago.

I think if you open yourself up to contact, you’ll find this happens everywhere you go, no matter how far! It is fascinating!
Scarlet O'Kara on October 20th, 2008 1:41 am

Thanks for the comment about my little pumpkin, as well as the well wishes for my anniversary.

I also have to mention that my husband grew up in Centralia, IL and spent alot of time in Breeze! Who knows…maybe you know him or someone in his family.
Amber on October 20th, 2008 2:50 am

Probably the craziest thing was my wedding. Jamie and I had been to BYU at the same time, graduated in the same department and he lived in the same place as my best friends. But we never met until 10 years later.

Then came our wedding. All his friends knew my friends and it was the weirdest feeling in the world to know we had probably crossed paths a hundred times!
Kim on October 20th, 2008 6:42 pm

I love Wally’s in Breese. I used to live in New Baden.
Anissa@Hope4Peyton on October 20th, 2008 8:48 pm

I have a super weird connection story too…and pictures to go with it. Grew up in IN, live in Tampa now and when my daughter was diagnosed with cancer I met this incredible woman named Sherry. Sherry had lost her son to cancer the year before, she lived in my suburb and she was an amazing source of support and encouragement throughout our treatment. We became good friends and I knew that she was from Indiana, but we’d never talked specifics.

But one day when we did talk about IN, we found out that we grew up in the same teeny hometown in IN, you want to talk small? Population of about 500. Come to find out, with a few phone calls and emails to family members, our parents hung out in high school, our grandparents were not only good friends, but our grandmothers are cousins. Sherry and I are actually related.

A few weeks ago she sent me a picture of a Christmas with our grandparents, when our moms were toddlers together.

FREAKY!
Painted Maypole on October 21st, 2008 1:12 am

you’re welcome
Sara on November 26th, 2008 4:44 am

How weird, I live in Breese! We moved here from St. Louis a couple of years ago. I have read your blog for a while, and didn’t even know you grew up in Breese. What a small world.