Coincidence is the word we use when we can’t see the levers and pulleys. ~ Emma Bull

Coincidence is a Crazy Thing

From early on in my current gig I really hit it off with one faculty member in the Cosmetology Program. She was awesome and loud and a lot of fun. We also bonded over Cajun food and in particular shrimp. So, I would bring in homemade seafood gumbo for her and whenever we had a meeting together she would stop by a shop near her place and bring us both these amazing shrimp burritos, shrimp became our thing. Sadly, she passed away suddenly a little over a year ago.

The past two weeks I’ve been craving shrimp and oddly her name came up a number of times. Additionally, I had a talk with another faculty member where they said, Carmen’s really working for us from heaven this week.

So, I’ve also had a taste for lobster as well and Red Lobster near campus is having their shrimp and lobster feast, so I texted the other faculty and said, lunch in honor or Carmen today, going for shrimp. I was wearing a Skyline College polo and as my server walked up she said, I graduated from Skyline in Cosmetology and then she went, “oh my god you’re the dean.” We caught up briefly and I ordered and I realized while talking to her, she was in the last class Carmen ever taught, the universe works in strange ways. I had a great lunch, thought about my friend and gave the server a very large tip.

Because we have large evening programs in Cosmetology, Esthetics and Barbering, and because there are no other administrators on campus at night, I have shifted my schedule to finish in the early evening four days a week. Tonight when I did my walk through on the way out, I stopped to talk to several staff who all knew Carmen and related my day. They immediately leapt into stories about how over the last two weeks they’d had similar experiences related to Carmen. Who knows how the levers and pulleys of the universe work, but something pulled us all in the direction of her memory this week.

As I related this story out on social media I found the reactions to be varied and very interesting. Some people responded joyfully that I had a positive memory of my friend. Others reacted with hug emojis, obviously feeling that I was sad and needed support. I think likely that each person was reacting in the way that they react to remembering lost loved ones.

But while it is a sad thing that Carmen is gone, a very sad thing indeed, today was a happy day. That feeling that everything is connected, the opportunity today created for a number of us to reminisce and the opportunity to likely have made a former student’s day with a large tip are all good things.

So take a moment today my friends, to have a good memory of someone who is no longer with us, maybe it will trigger the universe to bring you a similarly good and happy day. ~ Rev Kane