Serendipity
‘the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.’
Hello folks! It’s been a while since I last wrote something but it felt good to write about an experience I had recently. Thank you for sticking with me and Bloom and Grow, your readership is very much appreciated. And welcome to those who have recently joined!
It was the first evening of my week off and I met my friend in town for dinner. Around an hour into our meal, I spotted two people (let’s call them K and D) walking into the restaurant that I instantly recognised. They were a couple I knew from college, I hadn’t seen them since they were 18 years old, and there they were standing mere metres away from me, all grown up.
We exchanged knowing glances and a smile as they waited to be seated, and then our connection broke as they were led to their table. A little later in the evening, K came over to me on the way to the bathroom and said hello. We chatted, covering the intervening years, talking about how this night out was their 10-year wedding anniversary, that they now had two kids, and I spoke about where I was and what I was doing. It was brief, but it was lovely to get up to speed on their lives all these years later.
After K left our table, a vision of 18 year old me flashed before my eyes, it was amazing how seeing them again brought back so many memories. I remembered us going on a college history trip and running around Hampton Court Palace wearing plastic tiaras thinking we were cool.
I also remembered when we were let loose in London on another trip, careening around Trafalgar Square and then ending up in Green Park eating Tesco sandwiches and sushi in a huddle on the grass.
When my friend and I left the restaurant, we swung by their table to say goodbye as I knew we would never see each other again, it felt bittersweet and peaceful at the same time.
Walking down the street another memory collided into me, attending K’s 18th birthday and dancing with a boy who I had a wicked crush on who was a trainee tree surgeon.
The next day I was determined to find the photos from K’s 18th, so I ploughed through our photo archives and found them. I flicked through the photos of sweaty, red-faced 18 year olds with bad highlights dressed in our finest celebrating and I smiled. I remember the stolen glances, alcohol mixed with fruit juice and swaying to the music.
I took snaps of the photos with my phone and sent them to my friend who I had dinner with. We marvelled at the fact that without bumping into them the re-emergence of these memories and photos would never have happened.
Of all the restaurants, days, times and places, we run into each other one Friday night 17 years later by chance.
Pure serendipity.