Two Hearts, One Dance

Almost three years ago in early June, Marina went to a dance about 40 minutes from where she lived. She was meeting a good friend of hers, John who also loved to do the hustle, a popular dance of the 70's. John introduced Marina to a mutual friend named Vincent, who was a professional dancer. All three of them were Italian and very passionate about music and dancing.

When Marina and Vincent met there was a connection, their eyes met, their feet were in perfect rhythm and they became lost in the music and the moment. They only had 2 dances together and went on to mingle and dance with others. At the end of the night as they were driving home, Marina commented to John how much she was attracted to Vincent. To her dismay, John told her that Vincent was married and that his wife was always present but dancing with others.

One month later there was a yearly dancing competition and Marina and John went to watch. There was public dancing after the event and Vincent was there and asked Marina to dance. Marina was in heaven and Vincent complimented her on her dancing and told her how beautiful her eyes were. She left mesmerized yet knowing that he belonged to another.

Two weeks later, Marina and John went to their favorite dance spot and Vincent was there. He and Marina had 2 dances together and went their separate ways.

On August 13th, Marina and John met again at their favorite dance spot. Vincent was there and they danced again, briefly, not exchanging much conversation. Marina melted in his arms and she was in another world, a world of dance and she floated like an angel in his arms. She left that night, thinking that she could never return to dance with Vincent because he was married and she wanted to keep that night in her heart and treasure it always.

Two years and 7 months later, John called Marina and said that Vincent was asking for her...that he had been divorced for a year and a half and was wondering how she was and if it would be all right to call her.

Vincent called Marina and they spoke for over an hour, more than they had ever talked. He told her that when they had danced in the past that she left him speechless. He told her that he couldn't wait to see her again and they set up a time to meet - Marina and Vincent lived 3 hours away from each other.

On March 13th, which was exactly 2 years and 7 months that they had seen each other, Marina and Vincent met. He drove 2.5 hours and she drove 30 minutes to meet. When they met, they hugged and he said, "I've been waiting 2.5 years for this." He told her that he didn't want the night to end so he drove another 30 minutes back to her place. They stayed up, talking until midnight and then he made the long journey home.

Vincent left not knowing when they would meet again but touched his heart and said, "But you will be right here until then."

With their busy schedules and the 3 hours distance, it will be very difficult for Marina and Vincent to get together but if their friendship blossoms into love, they will find a way. If not, Marina will always have the memory of having her fondest wishes come true, to be remembered and thought about by the man who melted her heart with every movement of every step and a song that lingered in her soul for years....and the best part....he, too had felt the same way about her!

Coincidence or Clairvoyance

It was 8 days before Christmas and my girlfriend asked me if I would play the piano for her nursery school students’ recital. I was there for 2 hours and she offered to treat me to lunch for helping out.

While we were having our lunch, a family walked by our table; dad, mom, grandmom and youngest daughter. As they proceeded to sit at the table behind us, the mom came over to our table. I recognized her immediately but she was focused on my girlfriend, asking her if she remembered teaching her now 22 year old daughter. That was 18 years ago and to her surprise, my girlfriend did remember her.

I knew the family from many years ago and once we said our “hellos” the wife realized who I was and couldn’t get over that I knew her daughter’s nursery school teacher.

It turns out that I have known the nursery school teacher for 30 years. And for the family who walked into the restaurant, I have known them for about 15 years or so as the dad worked for our family business and his daughter played youth sports with my daughter.

The weirdest part of this story is that just the night before, the mom had a dream about the nursery school teacher. Her daughter was coming home from college the next day and perhaps she was reminiscing about her daughter’s childhood. Who knows, but how coincidental was it that they walked into that particular restaurant at just the right moment.

My girlfriend was running ½ an hour late and asked me to pick the restaurant. The reason I chose that one was convenience to where we were and neither one of us had been there in awhile. It certainly was a coincidence; however, I think we were meant to end up there and at just that time to fulfill the mom’s dream!

Timing Is Everything

The definition of timing is "A placement or occurrence in time."
To equate this to music, "Notes and timing are the backbone when it comes to playing music. Timing determines rhythm and it is crucial to music."

Life is all about timing and this is a cute story of how timing was musically related and I mean MUSICALLY and RELATED....literally and figuratively.

A few weeks ago, I received a call from one of my former piano student's mother telling me that her 13 year old daughter wanted to resume piano lessons, as well as her 10 year old daughter. Abbey started with me when she was 6 years old, which is very young and as it turned out she just was not ready and did not continue for long. (I recommend 8 years old as an ideal age to start.)

I was thrilled when her mother called because I always remembered Abbey as a sweet and adorable little girl. I looked forward to seeing her as a grown teenager. And what a bonus to meet her again and her 10 year old sister who was undoubtedly also as sweet and adorable.

When the lesson day came it was such a nice reunion and we all hugged and reminisced as it was 7 years ago since we saw one another. In the course of the conversation, Abbey's mom told me that her 16 year old son was a sophomore at the same school as my brother's son, Nick. I asked her if his name sounded familiar and to my surprise she exclaimed, "Nick and my son are best friends!"

I could not believe my ears. Out of over 300 kids, what are the chances??!!
Well, of course life is full of coincidences such as this but you have to admit that it IS all about timing. Perhaps if Abbey's mom never called about piano lessons, I would have run into her in 2 years at my nephew's graduation party. Who knows but I am so happy that I will get to enjoy teaching Abbey and her sister every week. For me the timing is perfect and over the course of their lessons, the girls will musically learn that "timing is everything."

How Do You Keep the Music Playing?

It was a Friday night and Theresa did not feel like going out after working all day, especially since she had to get up early the next morning and go back to work. But, she had promised her girlfriend Anne that she would take her out to a few "night life" spots in the town where she grew up. Theresa was grumpy and after driving 40 miles they stopped in a little neighborhood bar to have a drink. It was smokey and so they had one drink and left. Then they stopped at another place and it was "deadsville" so they moved on. The last place they went to was a huge restaurant/bar with people of all ages and a crowded bar. Anne headed to the bar and immediately started talking to a gentleman. Theresa was not in the mood to talk and had no interest in meeting a man no matter how "gentle" he might be. She headed over by the entrance, sat on a bench and just watched the people pour into the restaurant.

After awhile, Anne waved her over to the bar. She sat down and as she looked across the bar, her eyes saw a familiar face and she was surprised to see him so far away from home. They laughed and spoke for awhile and she started to have fun. Then the man sitting next to her started chatting. He was 8 years younger but as they started talking they discovered that he was good friends with Philip who went through grade school, junior high and high school with Theresa. They were always good friends but never dated. Theresa had always liked Philip and thought about him off and on over the years and Philip had done the same with Theresa, wondering what had become of her.

It turned out that Philip was single and available so Theresa wrote him a note on a napkin asking him to call her and the friend was going to make sure that Philip got the note. A month went by and Theresa never heard from Philip. She figured he was not interested. Two weeks later, Philip called Theresa and said that he found a note on his car and was perplexed as to how it got there. He was thrilled to hear from her and they talked for 3 weeks and finally met at a diner half way between their homes.

They sat there for 3 and a half hours, talking, laughing, kissing and carrying on like teenagers. They instantly connected, started dating and had many moments of fun and reminiscing. Theresa wanted to take things a bit slower than Philip and it hurt him when Theresa could not return his love as quickly as he wanted. He was so loving and giving and treated her like a queen. He thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world and she did love him but was afraid to admit it. She was holding on to the past and because she could not let go of it she lost her future.

Theresa and Philip had not seen each other for 40 years and instantly connected. It is sad that they could not find a way to keep the music playing. Their fate turned into fear and froze their relationship. The sad thing is that Philip is probably thinking about Theresa and Theresa is thinking about Philip but neither one of them will admit it.

"Maybe I didn't love you quite as often as I could have; and maybe I didn't treat you quite as good as I should have. If I made you feel second best, I'm sorry I was blind; You were always on my mind, you were always on my mind."

Love Was Only a Floor Away

This is a story of how Sam & Sylvia met & fell in love.

Sam, a widower, was living in a retirement community when he met Sylvia who was enjoying her 2nd marriage at the time. They had mutual friends in the complex where they lived and on this particular evening they were all sitting around the dining hall talking when Rosedale High School, 45 miles away came up in the course of the conversation.

Sam & Sylvia realized, 68 years after they had graduated high school, that Rosedale was the school they both graduated from and lo and behold, the same year. They did not know each other back in the day because their graduating class consisted of 600 kids.

A few months after the dinner get-together, Sylvia's husband died. Two months later, she received a call from Sam, asking her out on a date. It didn't take Sam long to realize that Sylvia was the one for him. Two years later, they were inseparable and acting like teenagers in love.

Regardless of the high school connection, Sam & Sylvia were meant to meet, fall in love and spend the rest of their days together. It is amazing though that they both ended up in the same retirement community, just 45 miles from where they went to high school and not having their paths cross until 68 years later!!

Music to My Ears

The following story is about unlikely events that will show how "Anything is possible but not probable!"

Lauren is a 25 year old who plans a road trip to the Bayou Music Festival with her 2 girlfriends. Their plans are to drive from Richmond, Virginia to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to see the Country Music Superfest that is being held over Memorial Day Weekend.

In November, 6 months in advance of the festival, Lauren buys the tickets through Ticket Master and books a room at the Holiday Inn in New Orleans. She puts everything on her charge account knowing the girls will all split the cost 3 ways.

Three weeks before the trip, Lauren decided that she really didn't want to go on the road trip and since it was her idea to take the trip in the first place, she told the other girls that she would just take the loss for the room and they would try and sell the tickets.

A few days later, Ticket Master called Lauren to say that they were renovating the upper deck section where their seats were and they would upgrade or give them a full refund. Ten days after that, the Holiday Inn called and told Lauren that they were remodeling and their room was no longer available and they would send her a refund.

What are the chances that something like this would happen???? Lauren is going to take that money and go and buy a lottery ticket!!!!

Chance, Fate or Fortune?

Sometimes when fate finds us, we wish it had taken a detour.

In the following story, fate was not traveling in the direction of fortune for Natalie.

When Natalie and Trevor first met and looked into each other's eyes, they fell in love. Natalie thought Trevor was the most handsome man she had ever seen. And, when Trevor looked at her with his dark brown eyes, her heart would melt. He made her feel special every day. She was his angel.

They enjoyed doing everything together, had many interests and were always smiling. They always had kind words for each other and people would tell them what a cute couple they made. Even after 5 years of dating, they had fun and their hearts would still beat fast when they saw each other.

When Trevor's job took him 1,500 miles away from home, he asked Natalie to go with him. The day they moved into their new apartment, they met a woman across the hall named Brunhilda. Hilda was a professional mountain climber and more than anything in the world, Trevor loved mountaineering. Trevor and Hilda ran into each other quite often and one thing led to another. Trevor told Natalie that his heart was with Hilda and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life climbing mountains.

Natalie's heart was broken but since she was deathly afraid of heights, she did not even try to compete and returned home. Everyone that knew them was shocked when they heard the news.

Was it just meant to be that in a complex of hundreds of buildings, chance put them in that spot???? Hilda's good luck was Natalie's bad luck. The dictionary defines luck as "believing that whatever happens, either good or bad, is due to chance, fate or fortune."
What do you think?