Serendipity

It is the evolving story of my life that I, often, find myself in situations that tend to seem a bit surreal at first, but, when I take a moment to reflect, they are actually the things which remind me of life’s preciousness. These situations, or occurrences, in my life happen at the most unsuspecting of times. But these situations are also part and parcel of what motivates me to continue my life’s work as a storyteller/musician. Let me give you an example of something that happened just a few nights ago. I was invited to a Kwanzaa celebration by I family that I am absolutely in love with. The father is a strong central figure, the mother is nurturing beyond measure and the children are absolutely adorable. Anyway, I had a thousand reasons why I couldn’t attend and only a couple of reasons why I should. Love and loyalty won out, so I, and a few of my “community children,” I’ll have to explain that term another time, attended the evenings’ gathering.

Without going into too much detail about the evenings activities, let me get straight to the point. Our host’s mother was present and she was one of the first to greet us at the door of their home. Early on, I gravitated towards; well let’s just call her grandma Nana. She and I were enjoying a really nice conversation when she began asking me some typical questions that people from the south ask when they meet someone new (i.e. who are your people, where are you from, what’s your families last name, etc.)

Although I’ve been through this exercise many times in my life I still enjoy the similarities that crop up in my mind between this same conversant exercise that people do in Africa.

Once I began answering her questions, we both realized that we had locations and people in common with one another. After inquiring with more detail, Grandma Nana asked me a specific name of a woman and did I know her?

To my surprise, the name that she spoke was the name of one of my great-aunts. She spoke the name of my Grandmother’s younger sister.

It so happens that Grandma Nana and my great aunt went to college together more than 50 years ago (although grandma Nana claims to be in her mid-30′s).

I saw this as a sign. Each day of Kwanzaa a specific principle of the holiday is recognized. This evening, we happened to be celebrating the 5th principle of Kwanzaa, “Nia,” which is Kiswahili for “Purpose.” My brain started racing as I was speaking to Grandma Nana as to how I might be able to reconnect these two old friends.

The very next morning, instead of tackling that pile of papers on my desk, that I really must name soon, I got on the phone and started calling family members. It only took one phone call for me to get my great aunts phone number.

I called my great aunt. She was really excited. She knew exactly who I was talking to her about. I gave her Grandma Nana’s phone number. They spoke that very same day. They have reconnected and who knows what the future holds.

This was definitely a very rewarding way for me to begin my new year. What a wonderful experience!

This is why I do what I do.