Okay, so this post is not exactly related to weddings BUT it’s April
Fool’s Day and this is the best I can come up with. . .Enjoy!
I recently met with Brad and Nikki (names changed) who are getting married
later this year. Their story begins in
the most ordinary of ways – they met in high school and quickly became
sweethearts. After graduation they each
went to a different college and though they tried to keep the relationship
intact, distance and time broke them up.
The years passed and they lost
touch with each other. They each went on
to marry and eventually divorce. And
here is where life gets incredible. One
day two years ago, Brad was driving in Santa Monica. He slammed on the brakes for a red
light. He happened to look to his right
and glanced on the back of a woman entering a Staples. He thought couldn’t shake the feeling she was
Nikki. He parked the car and went racing
through Staples. And, yes, it was
Nikki! They hadn’t seen or spoken to
each other in over ten years. Soon,
though, they were back where they had left off and today are planning their
wedding.
I was moved by their story. . .what
if the light had not turned red? What if
Brad had not looked to the right? What
if Nikki had gone to Office Depot and not Staples?! All the what ifs. . .
Two weeks ago I finished teaching a
course at UCLA. Every Tuesday night for
eleven weeks I’d stand in the hallway outside my classroom before class
started. Anyone who wanted could confer
with me. And every Tuesday night a young
man would walk by me on his way to another class. I noticed him because he always wore a suit
and carried a large backpack that appeared to be heavily crammed with who knows
what. I always wondered what could be in
that large backpack.
Last week I was in the B of A
building downtown on my way to meet with a client. Ahead of me on the elevator was a guy with a
large backpack that made me think of the UCLA guy. When he turned around, I was stunned to see
that it was the same guy!
I kept walking by because hey, what
was I going to say? But again. . .how
odd. . .what are the chances of that happening?
And, yes, I later bought a lottery ticket since I was feeling
“lucky.” And, no, I didn’t even win a buck!
In last week’s Huffington Post, an
item ran about New Jersey couple Jourdan and Ryan Spencer who met on a blind
date in 2004 – BUT they actually crossed paths more than a decade before.
Jourdan’s parents have video of her
when she was ten at the Sesame Place amusement park in Langhorne,
Pennsylvania. At one point in the video,
Ryan, then thirteen years old and an utter stranger, walks into the frame. He was there with his family!
So, what does all of this have to
do with weddings? Hmm. . .I’m actually
not sure. . . BUT, what better time than April Fool’s Day to reflect on just
how weird life can get?! And in a way,
isn’t that part of what your vows are all about – that together you’ll revel in
all of life’s weirdness together?!
Shakespeare said, “All the world's a stage, And all the men
and women merely players.”
True.
But it’s poet Mary Oliver who
writes, “Instructions for living a life: Pay
attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
Somehow, that’s worthy advice for
an April Fool’s Day!
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