John Lennon said, “Sometimes you wonder, I mean really wonder. I know we make our own reality and we always have a choice, but how much is pre-ordained?”
I ponder.
And I have examples. You tell me what you think of all of this.
Scene One. I’m a very unconfident teenager in a new town in eighth grade and have no friends. Just trying to fit in, somehow. It’s lunch time and there is a lunch line and I’m in it, normal school stuff. Except there is a boy. He is walking the line. He has a pen and a clipboard. He is interviewing everyone in the line. I’m so awkward that I avoid his attention when he arrives at me. He dismisses my hesitance and looks me straight in the eye.
“I am collecting signatures to keep the latest Queen song, “Bohemian Rhapsody” on the top of the charts. I need signatures. Will you sign?”
“Yes of course.” I say sheepishly. End of story. Or is it? He tells me his name is Gary. I dismiss it and him.
Four years later I’m in high school now and one of the most important days in my life is about to happen. I meet my wife.
Everything begins to change for the better for me. She opens up the windows of my life. Nothing will ever be the same again.
Carrie, my wife, has many friends. I meet them one at a time and learn how to become more social in a new world I have found myself in.
I discover the piano.
I meet Jim and Jennifer. They become lifelong friends.
Jim is a musical genius and I need to get to know him better. I cannot keep my hands off of the piano and he is my guide.
I have so much to learn. I throw my heart into it. It has become a major part of my life, even now. “Thanks Jim!”
But where is this story going? Gary, that’s right we started out with him. Where does he fit into this story? Oh, yes. He was Jim’s best friend in childhood. But they have lost track of each other for ten years.
Now it’s 1988 and I’m working at a company, in Chicago, that would become AT&T. Carrie has a day off from work and decides to come into the city and meet up with me for a nice lunch together. We are walking in front of City Hall. Carrie stops.
“Do you ever feel like you are about to meet someone?” She says out loud. I am surprised by this comment.
“I suppose but mostly nothing comes of it.” I return.
Just then a guy running down the street wheeling a camera and loose strap runs right into us.
It’s Gary.
We haven’t seen him in eight years. Carrie hollers!
“Gary! What are you doing here?”
“Uh,” he responds in a half guilty voice, “Just taking pictures on my lunch hour.”
“I haven’t seen you in years.” Carrie responds. They start a conversation that last almost five minutes.
“Hey, whatever happened to that guy you were dating in high school?”
“Uh, I’m right here.” I say and tap him on the shoulder. I think to myself that Bohemian Rhapsody did quite well back in the day. More conversation. Gary, who is in a hurry to leave, suddenly thinks of something and blurts it out.
“Do you guys know what ever happened to Jim? I heard he married Jennifer, but I have lost track of him.”
“Of course, we found them at the ten year high school reunion. We have his contact information.”
“I would sure like to catch up with him. We were great friends when we were young.”
A year later, Gary and his wife, Karen, bought and moved into a home a block away from Jim and Jennifer. I kept spending time with Jim working on music. Gary learned how to play the drums. He brought a good friend of his who played great guitar. We formed a band. We recorded five albums together. I still work on music projects with them.
A moment in time can make or break the future, or is it all preordained? I scratch my head and wonder. I feel blessed to have followed this track in life.
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Pretty cool stuff. When you find out, please let me know. Love!
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