Thursday, September 30, 2010

Two Jackpots in a Row!

        Okay, I'll get this out of the way first, the jackpots didn't involve any money! These jackpots involved two people I had never met before and finding out that we had mutual acquaintances.
  
        A few days ago a couple stopped in my yard as they saw a car in my driveway that they would be interested in buying. They were polite and didn't want to waste my time and wanted to leave their name and phone number in case I ever decided to sell the car.

       We talked a few minutes and the lady somehow or other said that she was raised in the area. So my curiosity went hyper and I asked her if she went to the school I taught in. Yes, she had and then she told me her maiden name. I had taught her two sisters and a brother. This family had it all. They were strong academically, arts wise and in sports. They could also do no wrong! In other words they were extremely well behaved . They were the kind of kids that you could teach for fun. We also talked about some of the teachers from that age. So it was a pleasant memory for me. The bonus was that this woman had become a teacher and was teaching in the school system that I taught in.

     I then looked at the man and asked him if he was raised in this area. He said know but he had been raised in Saskatchewan and he was proud of that. Since I was born and raised in Sask. I had to ask him "Where abouts?" He said Guernsey, Drake...I said wait a minute, Drake is my home town! So then we discovered many people who we knew . I was born in 1939 and he was born in 1957 so we knew different generations of the same family. We were both searching for more common links. He reminded me of some of the experiences which were common such as picking saskatoons , swimming at Manitou Beach and tobogganing on the hills at Lake Manitou.  Most of the area is extremely flat so getting to slide on the hills a Lake Manitou was a treat for all of us. The pool was the only one in a very large area. so we were fortunate as it was nicer to swim in a pool than a lake.

      I enjoy meeting people were we have common connections. It's all the more rewarding if I've never met the people before. So I had a very pleasant one hour visit. It really was like winning two jackpots in a row.