Another thread got me thinking, what is the oddest coincidence you experienced in your life that you would not believe unless you experienced it?

I have *many* to share. I'll start with this one:

Lived in a big city in state A, and dated woman #1 seriously for a couple of years and we lived together. I broke up with her. Neither of us were originally from state A (or state B) and we did not have any common friends. She pursued me hard but I moved on and dated woman #2. They did not know each other. Woman #2 invites me to be her date to a wedding 1500 miles away in state B. At the reception, I sat at my assigned seat at a circular table. On my left side, is an empty seat. I didn't know anybody at the wedding other than my date. Turns out the guy's date got ill and had to cancel. That empty seat was meant for my ex-girlfriend woman #1, this random guy's date 1500 miles from home. This was totally by chance, and neither myself or the women were aware of this beforehand and nobody else would have known. I cannot comprehend the odds of that happening, but must be astronomical.

Wifes family is from Havre, Mt. My sister and brother in law live in Potlatch, ID. Visiting sister and bro with my wife when she was still GF. He asks what her last name is. She tells him and he mentions he knows someone with the same last name that lives in Mt. She asks where and he says Havre...its her aunt. Neither one of them know why or where they met but that they did.

I picked up a classic truck in Baton Rouge, LA. On the drive back to Seattle, one of the stops was in Branson, MO. While eating at a country themed restaurant, which I think was owned by Buck Owens, this huge guy comes in with shiny revolvers in leg holsters and sits in the Tanya Tucker booth across from us. The guy was huge, 6' 4" at least, and looked like he could wrestle a steer to the ground. He had the vest, white cowboy hat, big belt buckle, the whole works. But I was staring at the revolver on his leg.

He looks up, and I say in a kind of smart aleck way "I wasn't admiring your leg, I was looking at your gun." The guy gets up, comes over to our table and asks where I'm from. I tell him I'm originally from Nebraska, and he proceeds to ask which part, and asks my name. I tell him, and he says "No, your last name". I oblige. He puts his hand to his face, rubbing his chin like he's thinking and says I think you're related to the Tucker family.

Anyway, we shake hands, chat a little, and he sits down. I was just relieved he sat down, thinking he was going to beat the crap out of me. I kept thinking how odd this encounter was. I have no clue how I'd be related to the Tucker's, and it was probably some BS from a performer getting off work.

When we make it to my parent's farm in Nebraska, I tell my parents the story. Come to find out, my great grandmother's maiden name was Tucker. The guy knew his genealogy, maybe...

A few years ago I was framing a garage onto the side of a house south of Tacoma. We had some delays with the trusses and scheduling with other subs so I waited to punch the door into the house until June 22, 2015. It was a Monday

When I finally did cut the sheathing out we found the wall cavities were ‘insulated’ with some sort of impression from the Tacoma newspaper. It was a rubberized material, guessing it was used as part of the printing process

The date on the impressions you ask?

Monday, June 22, 1942

73 years to the day, same day of the week:






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cool thread.

Good stories!
Nice thread.

My fate/destiny was sealed when I used to work with a gal that would have NOTHING to do with me when I bartended after a layoff from Boeing from 1982-1986. I was sort of a slut and this gal 4 years younger than me was a good friend but no way was she gonna give me the time of the morning if you know what I mean.

3 years later, on a whim I stopped by the Black Angus restaurant in Federal Way after work (Back at Boeing) to see an old buddy who was bartending at the Angus.
As I sat at the bar this gal comes up to me and...."Holy cow! Is that you Brian?" and standing there was my old co-worker out with a bunch of nurses celebrating.
18 months later I was married to her!

I started dating a girl that I went to school with who was a few years younger, and after a month of two she invited me over for dinner at her parents. Her Grandparents swung by unexpectedly and I began to talk with her Grandpa, who happened to be wearing a S&W t-shirt. We talked for about an hour and I ended up asking him where he grew up, and he said most of his family including his 10 siblings grew up in Mandan, North Dakota.. I thought, damn that's weird, that's where my family is from. He mentioned that they used to shoot rabbits, birds and other small game with the kids in the neighborhood for food since the area was piss poor especially during the depression. Again, I thought shit my Grandma always told me those stories..

At this point I felt like I was going to throw up thinking I might have been doing some naked contorting with my cousin for the past 6 weeks. I asked him if he knew any of my family and turns out he lived just a few houses down from my Grandma and her siblings for most of their childhood.

When we got married it was a big reunion, small world.

I was a young man in the USN, still going through several schools before getting out to the fleet.
One of the schools was in New London, and I knew no one in the area. I was powerfully lonely for home.
The 2nd weekend in New London, I was about to bag it and buy a ticket for home for 1.5 days. The travel agency was in a small strip mall and as I walked up to the door there was a blonde woman of about 35 walking by...
I'd never seen her before but I knew instantly that she was a friend's sister.

With about 1 second hesitation for shyness I said "Hello. You're Markku Hämäläinen's sister, aren't you?"
The look on her face... Good memory these decades later.

She lived about 90 miles away from where we met, and after a short visit she took me home to meet her family and to spend the weekend with them, as well as an open invite for the rest of my time while in that region. The school was 14 weeks, so I ended up spending quite a bit of time with them. She had never been to Washington, and from our discussions, we were both very sure that we'd never crossed paths before.

Was at Bragg ib '76 for A.I.T, before heading off to Sierra Leonne. About 5 years ago, I needed a upper molar extracted, which required surgery. Was sent to a place in Centralia, where they sat me in a chair to wait my turn. While waiting for the meds to kick in, I spoted the one star deployment flag in the rooms window, and asked the nurse who's family member was in the sand box. She told me one of their nurses was in the Guard and was in Irag.
A bit later, the dental surgeon walks in, shakes my hand, and begins his exam. He mentions my asking about the flag, and states he was a Major in the 307th. Turned out, he was at Bragg in the barracls next door to mine, at the same time I was there. What're the odds he'd be pulling my tooth nearly 40 years later?

Excellent stories, keep 'em coming. I'm fascinated by coincidences in life. I'll share several more similar ones, of running into work colleagues in random places in the world.

* When I was in law school out west almost 2 decades ago now, I played in intramural basketball with classmates. One guy named Paul was remarkably tall (around 6,6) and distinctive looking - he looked like Rob Lowe. Anyway, I went on a trip somewhere and had a flight layover in Atlanta International Airport, one of the largest in the world. Think of the millions of people that pass thru it daily, with probably very short stops/waits. Sure enough, I was walking between gates to catch my next bird, and I saw Paul walking toward me to his different gate. Totally unplanned. We had a good laugh at the astronomical odds of that, meeting 2000 miles away in a busy airport at random.

* About 10 years ago when I was in the Army, I had several. The first was around 2006 during Christmas break. JAG school is in Virginia. I flew out west. On my return flight thru Denver, I went to my gate and there was a Major I knew who was an instructor at my JAG school, and we were catching the same return flight. We had a good laugh at the coincidence.

* Around 2004 or 2005, I lived out west before the Army, and would work out daily at 24 hour fitness at the time preparing to join the Army. There was a very distinctive looking guy, muscular but covered in acne, and always doing these distinctive kettle bell exercises (similar to crossfit, probably before crossfit gained popularity). I would see him almost daily at the gym but never met him. Fast forward to 2007 and I was at Airborne school. I'm sitting in the Airborne jump shed, suited up in parachute gear, at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Thousands of Soldiers pass thru there yearly. We were seated in crowded conditions, on wooden benches of rows/sticks facing each other. I look up, and across from me, I shit you not, is this guy from my old gym several years ago 2000 miles from where we were seated. We talked briefly and I confirmed it was the same guy!

* Next was probably around 2008. I was deployed to Iraq, but taking my leave and flying out thru Kuwait. So I flew down to Kuwait to wait on a bird to take me out of country, and staying in a tent city where thousands of Soldiers pass thru on probably very short layovers of hours or a few days. I ran into my ROOMMATE from Officer Basic Course in this temporary tent city, and he was on a brief layover heading somewhere (the other coincidence with that guy is that we grew up in towns about 1/2 hour apart, also totally by happenstance). I was in line buying a camera at the PX, and he was just behind me in line. It was a crazy coincidence. I ran into several colleagues on deployments - randomly got on a helicopter once in Iraq, and there was a JAG classmate of mine. I did have planned meetings with peers in various places in Iraq, but those weren't as coincidental. But we had a two front war, there are 3000 lawyers in the JAG Corps, Iraq was a big country with a lot of moving parts and people, so even being located near each other is rather unique.

* Around 2010 when I was a staff officer in Special Forces Group. As an Officer Professional Development, our CDR and all officers planned a trip to Washington DC, tour of various areas, meeting with senior folks in the Pentagon, and so forth. Pretty exciting and unusual - that being my only time inside the Pentagon. As I'm going thru the massive layers of security and there are holding and seating areas, I saw about 5 or so JAG peers from my old unit, who were randomly there for a legal course. 1 hour either way and we would never had run into each other. And also at the Pentagon, my old boss had his then current assignment (I swung by but he was out of office on a meeting).

* Next was in 2012 - a double coincidence. I had a long trial on the last work day, and was out late and in a rush to catch a flight. I was dating a girl in Boston and catching a red-eye 6 hour direct flight for a 4 day weekend. I was at Seatac and was the 2nd to last thru security. I was in a hurry so not being observant of those around me. I passed thru and was gathering my stuff off the conveyor. I look up to the guy behind me, and it was the Judge from the trial I had just ended! We had a good professional rapport and had a good conversation and laugh about that coincidence. And the girl? She was one of my college classmates that I always liked but never dated, and we started dating some 2 decades after college during a chance FB conversation. Long story there but she was one that got away... one of my many military sacrifices. :(

I attended Montana State, and one very cold evening I was at the student building studying, get done and start walking by the front desk. This guy was asking if there is a place he could get some tools and some cardboard. The girl at the desk was no help. He was driving a school bus for a FAA competition and needed both to help keep the radiator a little warmer so it didn't freeze. I happened to have both in my truck. Mentioned to the guy I could give him a hand, I was parked close so it was a quick stop. Met him back at the bus with what he needed, and noticed the name on the bus was Choteau MT. After we started working I told him my parents were from there. Turns out he went to school with both my parents, and had my cousins in his class.

My grandfather flew B-29's in the Pacific, among many other places. He kept a short shot in his wallet for a number of years, and before he passed my grandmother had it framed. One of the names on the bills was Raymond Troll. Raymond moved back to Kansas, had a son, Ray, who moved to Alaska and became a pretty notable local artist. I grew up in the same town that Ray lived, and went to school with his kids. Low and behold my grandfather and his dad flew together in the Pacific on a number of missions.

I was managing a cellphone store in Lacey.... Guy comes in and I instantly realize that I should know the guy, but I can't place his name or face... We BS for a minute, talk phones... and I still can't place him.... So I ignore it...

We start talking some more.... Come to find out he's not from WA.... but from MD.....cool... What part? My part... We start talking about places we both know figuring maybe we crossed each others paths... But he was WAY more familiar than that.... Like some guy you know works for the same company but in another building, but you see once a week and never talk to...

I'm thinking, 'small world, we lived in the same (not so small) town'..... and kinda let it drop....

We end up circling back around to it..

'I lived off (major road)'
me too...
'Oh, you know where (major road) and (minor road) are?'
Oh yeah, that's where I lived
'Cool, I lived down in (name of development)'
yeah, I lived on Any St.
'No shit?! I lived on 1234 Any St'
(laughing) I lived on 1238 Any St.
'No way'...


Yup... Dude was my quasi next door neighbor, from 2500 miles away... at a random Sprint store in Lacey..

I had seen the dude a lot, but because he lived a couple houses down, I never formally introduced myself... Bhaahahah

Great stories. Keep 'em coming.

I have another. Growing up I met my same-age cousin only once or twice. I lived in the mid-west in state A and his dad moved them out west to state B. We never kept in touch.

Later in life around '98, I decided to go to law school and elected state B. Never even factored into it that I had a cousin there at state B, and I never made any effort to reach out (they were on the far side of the state). I graduated law school and later joined the Army JAG Corp. It's a very small organization really and all 5 branches total somewhere around 3000 JAG lawyers. So, I was both a lawyer and JAG officer, which is fairly uncommon and most people don't know any personally.

Around 2007 I was at a family get together back in state A, and my aunt is telling me about her nephew in the JAG Corps. I assumed she was a bit senile and confused and was politely agreeing.
But I was curious to get my cousin's contact info. It was a very busy time in my life, and a couple years went by. I finally got his information and reached out to him. Got to know him and he's a terrific guy.

Turns out, he also went to law school and joined the Air Force JAG Corp. I bet not many families have two JAG officers in them. Neither of us did this with any planning whatsoever. We've talked about co-authoring a book about our military careers and this coincidence. It's quite remarkable, really. And we don't come from wealth or a family of white collar. Our families have all been blue collar folks.

Back in 8th grade, I had a friend named John Ward. At the end of the school year we moved from Denver CO to Ogden UT where my dad got a new job. When I started 10th grade at the high school I took a class in small engine repair.
The first day of school, I get to the class and I don't recognize anyone from my 9th grade school. So I'm sitting there, when in walks a dead ringer for my friend from Denver. He didn't notice me and sat at the back of the room. The teacher did roll call, and sure enough, he called out John Ward.... unfortunately, this was another John Ward, and my John Ward's name turned out to be Scotty Durrant. Still, I almost had a heart attack.

Back in 2008, during OIF deployment, Paraordinance was doing military related engraved 1911s. Engraving was unit specific as a momento. They were fairly expensive, IIRC around $800+, and I was light on coin. They were special order, prepay, pick up after deployment sorta thing. I was bummed not getting one, but at the same time, was just unable to.

Maybe 6 months after the deployment I was randomly browsing a local want add paper someone had left laying around work. Saw something that caught my eye, some .308 rifle or something. I don't remember. Really good price. I called and the gentleman said it had sold. As the call was literally ending, and we were both hanging up, on a total whim, I asked if he had anything else for sale?

Gentleman says he did actually, a brand new Paraordinance 1911 with a unit engraving that he acquired in payment or trade or some such from a guy from my old unit. It was literally the exact gun I had wanted. I bought it from him for only $350! Brand new, 5 mags, box and papers! It was unreal good luck and coincidence. The odds of that are extreme.

First, my base had about 10 brigades, all of course different. Lucky someone bought it and got rid of it. And the gun wasn't even listed so it was just a lucky break that I called on a different gun AND inquired and he had that 1911; and a lucky break that the price was so terrific. Sorta felt like fate I was meant to acquire one, really.