Chance Meetings? Not A Chance

Chance Meetings? Not A Chance

I honestly believe God ordains hundreds of “chance” interactions and meetings in each one of our lives, but we have to be willing to step in.

People say to me a lot, “You find the most interesting places and people to talk to, how do you do it?” I don’t think it’s anything special I think Kathy and I are perhaps more open to it. Or maybe when it becomes so natural to let people in, you don’t know any different.

For years we produced a travel show for Toyota. So being open to new people and fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants conversations is pretty normal for us.

Here’s the latest mindblower.

The Cody Story:

There’s a little cocktail bar in a hotel down the street from where we are staying but we find little written about it.

We decide to check it out and discover they have a jazz trio playing later that night. (New Years Eve)

As we walk out the door we run into a couple and chat just a little. It was a “Chance” meeting, nothing special at the time.

An hour or so later we are back at the little bar and the woman we ran into is there with her husband and a table filled with friends.

She recognizes us, waves and then walks up to give us a chocolate for good luck.

The Jazz band is playing in the background as she sits down and starts to chat with us.

Here’s where it gets weird.

Kathleen Thompson is from McMinnville Oregon, the same place my parents are from.

My uncle was the city manager there for decades.

She knew of him.

My parents and ton’s of my family went to Linfield College, the football field is named after the Maxwell side of my family, she attended college there.

But more than that, her dad, Harry Dillon was President of the college for 25 or 30 years.

My relatives owned the Blue Moon Lounge downtown, her boyfriend in college worked there.

You get the idea.

We talked for probably two hours.

Kathleen lives in Cody, Wyoming and loves it.

Two of her friends at the table are famous authors, super sweet people.

Another friend is or was married to a Rockefeller.

They’re all hidden away in beautiful Cody, Wyoming.

The band played on and both Kathy and I had a little mist in our eyes as we realized what was happening.

We were headed off to dinner at their friend’s steakhouse.

Kathleen said “Tell Frank we sent you.”

We got to the restaurant and there was Frank, an older gentleman and I mean gentleman, in a black cashmere captains jacket seating his guests.

The place was packed, we had a reservation but it would have been a wait, until I mentioned Kathleen and Howard.

We got right in.

As we walked away Kathleen told Kathy everything in town will be closed today so we might as well join their friends to watch the Duck game. Oh, she made sure we knew she’s a Beaver fan, also attended college there.

Cody has its own makeshift lighted ball that it drops at midnight outside “The Irma Hotel”. We didn’t see it, remember, I’m 65 and these eyes haven’t seen midnight on New Year’s Eve in a long time.

The simplicity of life is lost in the hustle and bustle of needing to get things done.

When you get out here in the Wild West it seems priorities shift which opens the door to more “Chance” meetings.

I wonder that we are so busy we miss opportunities like this?

The past few years have made “Chance Meetings” too risky for some.

I say “To Hell With That Notion.”

We need more openness not less.

We need to put the past four years behind us and look for people to interact with.

I’m excited for what 2025 has to offer you, me and the rest of the truth seekers in America.

My prayer is for even more “Chance Meetings” for you and for me.