We decided to visit Pennsylvania's Amish country on our way home from North Carolina.After eating dinner at Plain and Fancy, we headed back to our motel rooms in Bird-in-Hand, PA, to sit on the front porch and enjoy the warm, peaceful evening.
Soon after Ken, our friends Jim and Lynn, and I settled into our porch chairs, three motorcyclists pulled up to the room two doors down. We watched them unload their bikes and chat. Suddenly we heard one of the two females in the trio say, "It's 9:00 p.m. at home. I guess I'll give them a call." Jim pointed out that they must be from east of our time zone, since it was 8:00 p.m. to us.
This got me curious, so when the three had gone into their room, I wandered over to the motorcycles to peer at their license plates: New Brunswick.Just then the man in the trio stepped outside, so I asked him what part of NB he's from.
"Fredericton," he replied.
I said, "Really? My aunt and uncle used to live in Fredericton. They're both gone now, but I used to visit them often.
"What were their names?" the man asked.
"Harry and Jean H.," I replied.
"You're kidding!" he exclaimed. "Harry and Jean lived next door to my parents."
"On Sunset Drive?" I asked in disbelief.
"Exactly," he said. The two women then came outside to join our conversation. One of the women lived in the house in front of Uncle Harry and Aunt Jean.
We talked about what wonderful people Uncle Harry and Aunt Jean were, and what a shame it was that they'd both passed away within the past four years. The man said he'd expected Harry, who seemed to be in the poorer health of the two, to die first, so he was surprised when Jean passed away first. I said my family had said the same thing.
When the three motorcyclists made statements such as "Harry hated to move from that house, but Jean wanted a smaller place," and "I miss seeing the wooden glider that Harry made, sitting on their lawn," and "I saw Whitney just a couple of weeks ago. She's a pretty girl," I knew these three complete strangers were telling me the truth.
They did know Uncle Harry and Aunt Jean, and they knew them well.
I'm still marveling at the coincidence. If one of the women hadn't mentioned the time zone they were from, I wouldn't have gone to check their license plates. It took going to Lancaster County, PA, to meet friends of Uncle Harry and Aunt Jean from Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Wow-what are the chances? How nice to meet someone though to share some memories with Aunt Jean and Uncle Harry. I must tell Mom. And I love the photos of the horse and buggys. Would love to visit there someday.
ReplyDeleteThe Amish Country is beautiful, Cheryl. So many pretty farms; so many carriages,
ReplyDeleteI could tell that the three we talked with about Aunt Jean and Uncle Harry respected them as much as all of us did. It was really neat.
It is a small world and we are all family actually and interlinked in many different ways.
ReplyDeleteThis is so incredible. What a wonderful feeling it had to have been. I thought these kind of coincidences only happened in Hawaii because we're such a small island.
ReplyDeleteWe too have run into people we know, or people who know relatives, in the most unlikely places. That's why you need to be careful before doing something dumb--someone somewhere will find you out and tell your mother. ;-)
ReplyDeleteLife can just be so darn much fun sometimes. These moments of serendipity are like little glimpses of what the world should always be like. Strangers who are so eager to be friends.... the link we have with one another as a human family.
ReplyDeleteWhat a joy filled experience.