Last night a very weird thing happened: Wayne and I realized a friend of mine was married to a friend of his. Maybe not so unusual in and of itself, but we’ve known both of them separately for years and they’ve been married a while. Except it wasn’t until last night that we made the connection.
Here’s what happened. I got a belated Christmas letter from Peggy, a friend I’ve known since I was a little girl. We knew each other through our dads.
Growing up my dad had a good friend, Ralph, he sometimes hung out with on weekends. I don’t remember how they knew each other or what common interest had brought them together. I want to say it was model airplanes, which my dad had always loved. At one time he had a side business making model airplane engines. I want to say his friend Ralph somehow had something to do with that.
Anyway, my dad would take me along to Ralph’s house because he had two daughters. I don’t remember the oldest one’s name (I was pretty little at the time so what I do remember is sketchy), but the younger one was Peggy. She was older than me but we always got along pretty well.
I don’t even remember how much older than me she was. I want to say five years, which can be quite a difference when you’re younger. Most 12 year old wouldn’t want to play with a seven year old, but she was always extremely hospitable. More than that really. We always had a hoot together.
I had lost touch with her over the years. I want to say I was a teenager when Peggy’s mom died, but my dad stayed in touch with hers until Ralph also died.
But a few years back I got a letter out of the blue from her saying how she’d never forgotten me and wanted to see how I was and what I was doing. So I wrote back and from then on we’ve been exchanging Christmas letters.
I knew she was married, her husband’s name was Greg, his last name was different than hers, and they lived in Gunnison, Colorado.
Wayne went to college in Gunnison. He used to have a professor he highly revered named Greg. I remember him talking about him 18 years ago and how much he learned in his classes. They became friends outside of school too because they both enjoyed running and swimming. They’ve kept in touch on and off ever since.
A few years ago, Wayne went back to Colorado for a family reunion. I had stayed behind in Florida, so Wayne decided to head down to Gunnison and look up Greg. He spent an enjoyable afternoon with him and his wife Peggy.
Well, we never made the connection that his Greg and my Peggy were the same people. Until her letter came last night talking about Greg’s job at the college and his running and swimming adventures. I called Wayne right away to ask what Greg’s last name was…to see if it was the same as Peggy’s husband’s. (Which I was pretty sure it was. It had always seemed familiar to me somehow, but I just never put two and two together.)
Wayne thought I was pulling a joke. It wasn’t until he got home, read the letter, and saw the family photo they’d also sent that he believed me. The Greg in the picture was definitely the Greg he knew.
Kind of funny how life connects us all sometimes. Some of us are just slower than others making those connections…
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