Tuesday night there was a message on the answering machine which was both unexpected and delightful. It was a man's voice and he didn't identify himself at the beginning. As I listened to his tone and words my memory was working overtime. I recognized the phrasing and timbre and it instinctively felt really "good" as I feverishly flipped through the brain's filing system to put a name with the noise, so to speak. I spoke his name just as he stated his name.
This gentleman was a coworker and friend back in the '90's who had moved to California to pursue career opportunities. The memories of working together flowed over me and I "grew" a big smile as each significant remembered moment flashed on the screen in my head. I loved all the colorful times we shared, the drama and the laughs. Hearing from him again was a serendipitous blessing.
His message started out by stating a quote of mine which he had carried with him since 1998. He asked me if I remembered saying, "They come and they go. And then you forget their name." which he smoothly followed by asking me in perfect context if I remembered him. That's when his voice flipped the switch and I embraced his name and laughed softly at the concept that the quote had encompassed for the two of us. I called the number he left and he answered right away. He asked me if I could place when and where I had spoken those words because he could!! So we relived the specific evening when we had attended a company dinner together, the two of of us supplying pieces to the scenario puzzle, drawing bubbling laughter from each other that felt so darned good. We spent fifteen minutes catching up on the eight years spent apart. The other half of this blessing was that he was at that very moment having dinner with two friends whom I knew and I additionally had a chance catch up with both of them as well.
The theme of this story? Surprises come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Keep your eyes open. The moral to this story? You never know when the words you speak will carve a remembered moment in someone else's life. Keep your heart open.
