Serendipity Day

serendipity  (ˌsɛrənˈdɪpɪtɪ)
— n
	1.  the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident  2. good fortune; luck 3. the act of discovering something opportune by accident 4. finding something you weren't looking for 5. fortunate or chance discoveries accidentally, occurrences or events of such discoveries or instance or incident of making such a discovery

Yesterday J decided he wanted to go to an earlier ward than we had gone to the previous week so that we could be home in time to watch gymnastics (he has been trying to get the kids excited about the Olympics and figured that was something that would interest AJ enough that she would sit and enjoy it with him).  I was not terribly supportive of the idea.  I was looking forward to a relaxed morning and going to an earlier ward meant that we only had about an hour (instead of 3) to get everyone ready and would have to rush.  Also the kids had all done really well in the previous ward making friends and feeling welcome so I didn't want to upset that.  And finally I didn't want to arrange our Sunday around sports or TV because I was afraid of what message that might be giving the kids.

After some discussion however, I agreed to go to the earlier ward (though somewhat grudgingly).  We got there a little bit early and the members were very friendly and nice.  We settled into our pew, and as the opening hymn started J nudged me and said excitedly, "Heath!  I'm sure I just saw... you know, Arizona, Emily and... Look at the back pew, the family that is just sitting down."  I can't tell you how happy I was to look behind us and see one of my dearest friends from Ft. Huachuca sitting on the back row!  She was my visiting teaching companion while they lived there and we just meshed really well.  Our kids were the same age so we had spent a lot of time together, but her husband deployed not too long after they got to the Fort and soon after that she moved to be closer to family during his deployment.  Then we moved and we lost track of each other and hadn't seen each other for about 8 years.  As we talked and caught up it was uncanny how much our lives have paralleled and how similar our struggles have been.  Her oldest was diagnosed with Asperger's a couple of years ago and as she described their experiences it was like listening to myself.  They invited us over for dinner and everyone got along so well.  They have three kids, all the same ages as mine (actually their youngest is about a year older than D but close enough).  The kids played while we talked and made dinner.  Then we ate and Emily made pudding from scratch (I was so impressed that she remembered our food issues and that she was so willing to accommodate them and even make sure we had dessert).  While the pudding cooled we walked to the Nature Preserve near their house and the little boys had fun playing in the dirt.  As I watched the kids play near the pond it reminded me of the many walks we took to the lake while at Huachuca and I was a little sad as I realized I don't have one single picture of the kids together at that age.  We didn't get any good ones this time around either but I'm including a few just for memories sake.

We are hoping to see them again soon a they are planning a trip to Utah in December and we will try to steal them for a day or two while they are there.  It was such a happy, unexpected and welcome surprise to see them again after all of these years and I am grateful for our "serendipity day" (although J will say going to that ward was pure inspiration, and I won't argue with that).