d roll. He told me it's just down the street from where we are staying. If that doesn't suit we can meet at Andy and Cheryl's Baywatch restaurant on Orient Beach any day for lunch. They also will have retired teachers staying with them. And then the last few sentences of his response which took me by surprise: Coincidence - I also taught "shop" for 16 years. Now have stained glass for a hobby along with piano and organ. Let's keep in touch and pick out schedules as we get closer to time. WOW!! Carol read the email and said, "Did you tell him that you enjoy stained glass, also?" "No, but what a coincidence!" I said. Looks like we'll be listening to the oldies or eating lunch together soon. And, I know I will recognize him and his wife because his photo on TTOL shows him with no hair like myself. Can hardly wait. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The "Talk About A Coincidence" Story
It was an ordinary day. Just got an email from Norm. For the last five years I have been following the travel forum "Traveltalkonline.com" (TTOL) and have met many people online who share their passion of traveling to the Caribbean, especially St. Martin. One of those people is Norm Oppliger. We also both belong to "SXM Travel Forum" where we dupe it out for prizes in the photo contests that are sponsored on that forum. A year ago I beat Norm in a photo contest and won a set of coasters from a vendor in St. Martin. We were battling for another contest which featured food photos when the contest was withdrawn from the site. The masthead photo for the SXM forum features photos taken by both Norm and myself. I feel like I know him from sharing threads on the travel forums. Then, Carol and I found that we will be able to travel to St. Martin at the end of January. I saw that Norm will be there about the same time and was having a party for friends of the forum. My problem was that we leave two days before the party. Won't get to meet him in person. So, I decided to email him. Found his home email on TTOL and sent him a letter. His profile on TTOL lists his residence as St. Louis, MO. His wife's name is Betty and he says he is a semi-retired home repair/remodeling contractor. Right up my alley. He has made 14 trips to St. Martin so I have some catching up to do. I also told him about being a teacher in the Industrial Arts area and that we were coming on vacation with another couple and he was also an IA teacher. Told him in my email how sorry Carol and I were that we weren't going to be able to go to his party. Was wondering if we could meet him and Betty before we left. They arrive a day after we do, but are staying for two weeks, while we are only able to stay for one week. Well he replied the same evening telling me he was sorry I would miss his party, but we can meet at 7:30 PM at La Bamba Beach Bar on Sunday evening for classic rock and roll. He told me it's just down the street from where we are staying. If that doesn't suit we can meet at Andy and Cheryl's Baywatch restaurant on Orient Beach any day for lunch. They also will have retired teachers staying with them. And then the last few sentences of his response which took me by surprise: Coincidence - I also taught "shop" for 16 years. Now have stained glass for a hobby along with piano and organ. Let's keep in touch and pick out schedules as we get closer to time. WOW!! Carol read the email and said, "Did you tell him that you enjoy stained glass, also?" "No, but what a coincidence!" I said. Looks like we'll be listening to the oldies or eating lunch together soon. And, I know I will recognize him and his wife because his photo on TTOL shows him with no hair like myself. Can hardly wait. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
d roll. He told me it's just down the street from where we are staying. If that doesn't suit we can meet at Andy and Cheryl's Baywatch restaurant on Orient Beach any day for lunch. They also will have retired teachers staying with them. And then the last few sentences of his response which took me by surprise: Coincidence - I also taught "shop" for 16 years. Now have stained glass for a hobby along with piano and organ. Let's keep in touch and pick out schedules as we get closer to time. WOW!! Carol read the email and said, "Did you tell him that you enjoy stained glass, also?" "No, but what a coincidence!" I said. Looks like we'll be listening to the oldies or eating lunch together soon. And, I know I will recognize him and his wife because his photo on TTOL shows him with no hair like myself. Can hardly wait. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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