Monday, March 7, 2011

Happy Coincidences

Even though Jace and I were never supposed to go to Germany, it seems that the universe desired us to be there, and it didn't take long to tell us why.

Firstly, I got to visit my mum's cousin, my Tía Andrea, who I hadn't seen in 14 years. As it turns out that she lives only a couple of hours south of Frankfurt and we spent a wonderful 10 days with her in Neckargemund - a very happy turn of events.


The second "sign" from the universe was even more profound in my mind.

Walking along a road in downtown Frankfurt in search of a particular outdoor store, Jace and I passed a girl in a white coat. “Someone wearing something light-coloured for a change,” I thought to myself.

100m farther along, waiting for the lights to change, I heard a quiet voice behind me ask, “Alix?”

It was the girl in white. It was Dominique Fiedler!!!

I met Dominique beside a hotel pool in Bali when I was 8. We didn’t really speak each other’s languages, but we played together anyway. At the end of the holiday, we exchanged mail addresses and began a penpal friendship that has lasted for over 24 years.

In Bali

We might have exchanged our floral notepaper for Facebook, and Dominique has gone from living in Singapore to Germany to the UK to Spain and back to Germany again, but we’ve still managed to keep in touch. We both studied science at university but aren’t working in it, both met our partners in 2004 and both got married in the last 15 months. Some surprising parallels.

And here she was in front of me. In Frankfurt. Where I never intended on being.

Together again after 24 years in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

With Jace and Joaquin, Dominique's husband

I am not normally a fatalistic person, but it does seem to be a somewhat astounding coincidence that Jace and I were evacuated to Frankfurt, so close to my family whom I haven’t seen in 14 years, and then I run into a penpal who I haven’t seen in 24 years.

I’m beginning to believe that just maybe the universe might have a plan after all.

2 comments:

  1. This is a fantastic story, lix, love it! netski xx

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  2. Love it, too! :-) And I agree with you - I could not believe it myself. In fact, my colleagues whom I had been with in Frankfurt the time I met you, urged me to go after you and ask. I just thought, they looked like Alix and Jace but it really really cannot be! ;-)
    Soooo glad we met up. And another parallel: we are pregnant at the same time. Hope all goes well for you! Love and hugs, Dominique

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