There are just some things in life you mark down as a weird coincidence, but when it happens three or four times, you begin to wonder what’s going on.
And that’s my dilemma today. Let me tell you the story and see if you can provide any insight.
What I am about to share may sound a bit morbid, but it’s the truth, so help me God, and I have yet to understand the correlation between the two.
When I worked at the Commonwealth several years ago, one of the members of our newsroom staff was scheduled to go on a well-deserved vacation.
No problem.
Right?
Wrong.
On the day before he was scheduled to leave, I received a phone call from my mother telling me that one of my most beloved aunts (my daddy’s oldest sister) had died. This was not a family member whose funeral I could miss.
She was my favorite aunt — the one I had spent most every summer and spring break with since I was old enough to remember, not to mention that I looked so much like her people thought she was my mother.
So I made the call to work, and an editor who was about to be off for a few days graciously agreed to put off his vacation for a day so I could return to Alabama and attend her funeral.
I thanked him for his kindness and understanding, truly thinking that nothing like that could possibly happen again when he planned vacation time.
Well things rocked along at work, and it once again was time for this same employee to take time off.
Out of the blue I received another phone call. My mother told me my uncle had died, which was a bit unexpected.
Being the kind-hearted soul he is, this same guy postponed his vacation again so I could attend the funeral.
It’s kind of hard to miss the funeral of your uncle who had been your next-door neighbor since you were in fifth grade. You tend to have an attachment for family members who live that near by.
That’s when I began to see a pattern. Every time this particular employee planned time off, I had another family member die, which inadvertently would push back his vacation by at least a day.
This was strange, very strange.
As I recall, there was even a third incident before I left the Commonwealth in 2005. I believe it was a cousin who passed away about a year later with the same scenario.
Well that was just too much. I jokingly told this employee that he couldn’t go on vacation anymore. The number of my family members were dwindling too fast.
I left the Commonwealth in the summer of 2005 and was gone for two years. While our family had several deaths during the two-year period, there was never that same coincidence with other co-workers or their vacation time.
So here I am, back at the Commonwealth.
With the Profile edition complete, this same editor began preparations for a week’s vacation, and we remembered the weird coincidences of the past.
I even kidded with him about it last Friday and told some of the newcomers in the newsroom the story. We all had a good laugh.
I assured them all that I didn’t know anyone in the family who was ready to keel over this time, so I thought we were safe. When will I ever learn to stop making such bold statements?
My folks were in town on Saturday and spent the night, so I thought all was well.
Not true.
When my mother called to tell me they had gotten home safely on Sunday afternoon, she said there was a message on the answering machine. My Aunt Luverne had passed away, and the funeral was Monday.
It was a sad moment, but I just had to laugh. “Here we go again,” I said. “No one is not going to believe this.”
Luckily, this was an aunt I had very little contact with who lived near Birmingham. I think I may have met her once before. She was married to my daddy’s oldest brother, and they didn’t live nearby, so visits were few and far between.
While mother and daddy planned to attend the funeral, this was one we all agreed I could miss.
I haven’t told my friend about the latest incident, but I am sure he will find it as weird as I do. At least this time it didn’t postpone his trip.
I am sure these are just weird coincidences, but you’ve got to admit that it makes you stop and think.
Only God knows when it’s our time to go. And I guess he just likes to take some of my folks on their eternal vacation when one of my employees goes on his earthly vacation.
