Coincidence?..........strange timing?........Angels?

Coincidence?...................... meant to be?......................Angels?..................

Three separate ‘strange’ incidences.

In my ‘previous life’ ( before we moved to Spain) , I traveled frequently between Europe, the States and Russia, whilst being based in London. Very strange when 20 years ago, I was asked to host a meeting on the Isle of Man. I have never before had any business dealings with anyone on the Isle of Man prior to that date, or since that date. Geoff  ( who is from the Isle of Man) and I decided not to tell his parents and for him to join me, as a surprise. At best we managed yearly visits to the island. The night before we were due to fly over, we heard via Geoff’s sister that his dad had not been well and had been admitted to hospital. As soon as we landed the following day, we headed for the hospital to see Eric. He died later that afternoon, I was holding his hand. I never made the meeting.   I loved Eric, he was a truly amazing man. How strange that we should both be there holding his hand the day he passed away? I have not been back to the island since ( after his funeral).

Strange coincidence isn’t it?

Well that was many years ago. More recently, 10 days ago, something strange happened again.

The night after my operation, I was lying by myself in the uncomfortable ( they are always uncomfortable, plastic mattresses, where the sheet seems to slide off, the minute you sit on the bed) hospital bed, in pain, not able to move, wondering why I had been so unlucky, with Surgeon number 1 missing the second tumor, wondering what my next steps would be, wondering if my life would ever feel ‘normal’ again.  Not that I could define ‘normal’ right now.

I had switched my phone off whilst in hospital, mainly because I did not feel like talking to anyone. I had left my rings and watch at home,  and needed to switch my phone on , in order to know what time it was, ( as I had to take my Cannabis oil every 8 hours). A couple of minutes after switching my phone on, it rang. Marieke! Why was this so special? I don’t talk to Marieke often ( no need to), she is still flying with KLM around the world and every minute she has is spent ‘giving back’. Marieke is the most remarkable person I have ever met. I met her during our first interview with British Airways, back in 1984. We hit if off straight away. During my second interview I was asked, who I would employ out of the people who attended the first round of interviews. I said ‘Marieke’. Unbeknown to me at the time, Marieke was also invited back for a second interview on a different day, asked the same question and she said ‘Anke’. We used to arrange to fly together whenever we could. We had a ball in South Africa, where Marieke met me dear school friend , Lonka. We rented a camper van in New Zealand and explored North Island, we shopped until we dropped in HongKong, we got lost together in Tokio ( Narita), as in those days, nobody spoke English and all signage was in Japanese. We rented a jeep in Jamaica and explored the centre of the island. We sunbathed in Barbados. We partied in Miama. We were like sisters and many thoughts we were. Apparently we looked similar. I can’t see that, Marieke is beautiful, but I guess we are of similar height, wore our hair the same and were both ‘from continental Europe’. We could not have been more different. I always pushed the boat out. Pushed to see how far we could go. One more round of water skiing, before we get ready for the flight home. ( nearly missing it). A private flight into the bush ( nobody knew about it), staying in a lodge that people dream of or pay a fortune for. ( nearly missing the flight back home). Buying too many fake Rolexes ( this is back in the early 80^th, when they were popular), selling them on when back home……….. There are so many stories  and incidences I remember. The main thing I remember is that Marieke was always the sensible and kind one. Marieke believed in god, I did not. Marieke wanted to do good, I just wanted to be wild. Marieke did the right thing, I needed to be persuaded. Over the 35 years we have known each other, we have had many many hours of debates about god. Marieke is married to God, her life is about God  ( and I don’t believe in God) and I have nothing but the greatest admiration to Marieke on how she lives her live.

Having said all this, back to my point, Marieke called me a minute after I switched on my phone and we had the most wonderful, deep, profound conversation we have ever had. After I put the phone down (and switched it off again), I remember lying in the hospital bed, thinking that it felt like I had spoken to an Angel. Very difficult to explain, but it was profound.

Strange coincidence isn’t it?

The evening before that whilst I was ‘under the knife’, Geoff was having a very low moment. After we had been told that the operation would last 45 min, Geoff had focused on that timescale, when after 2.5 hours I still had not been wheeled back into the room, he started to expect the worst. He had called reception a few times to check if they had any news, which they didn’t, and Geoff genuinely expected the worst. He described to me how he was sitting in the room, thinking of his dad. Asking his dad to look over us, look after us. It was a definite low point. Geoff explained how his phone rung during that moment. It was Jackie, one of his best friends who he has known all his life.  Just like Marieke, Jackie does not call often, most of our communication is via whats ap. When Geoff answered the phone, she said that she was in the middle of organising the contents of her house, ( which she was in the process of selling) and that she had come across some old movies and tapes. Without asking Geoff, she simply said, ‘listen to this’ and Geoff listened to his father’s voice recording ‘ I am here sitting next to Geoff…………..’.  20 years after Geoff’s father’s death, Geoff is willing his father to be close and then Jackie calls out of the blue that moment, with a voice recording of Geoff's father?

Strange coincidence isn’t it?

Is it all a strange coincidence? Or am I reading too much into it? Who knows, but in all three situations, it was meant to be.