Coincidences

This was written by my Grandmother for a magazine article:

..I'm alone in the cafe, enjoying an americano, and vaguely musing about coincidence - which Wikipedia defines as "the noteworthy alignment of two or more events or circumstances without an obvious causal connection." Whatever they are, coincidences seem to have occurred so frequently in my life that they seem to be normal events.

I remember one or two in particular ... The aunt who enquired of Hamish (my first husband) "Tell me, Hamish, where is Ian (his brother)? "He's in Canada", Hamish replied. "Oh, I have a young friend in Canada too, said my aunt. I'll go and find his address." Hamish and I smiled broadly at each other as we waited. It transpired that her young friend not only lived in 0ttawa,as Ian did, but in the same apartment block. In fact they were already great friends.

My son was born on his late grandmother's birthday. Hamish phoned Ian in Ottawa with the news. Ian relayed these tidings to everyone at the party that he and his wife Therese were holding at that moment. One of the guests pricked up his ears. "Hamish Cameron, you say? Your brother?" It transpired that the guest had been the trade commissioner in Lahore when we lived there, and had hosted our farewell party.

When I met Alastair, neither of us realised that my grandmother's cousin had been Principal of Glasgow University immediately before Alastair's father. In fact, had Robert Rait not died unexpectedly early, in office, Hector Hetherington would never have been called back to Glasgow from Liverpool - and many people's lives would have been completely different.

These are only a few of what have seemed to be remarkable coincidences in my life - there have been many more. (My train of thought today began because my granddaughter has found a house to share with her student friends next year, in Dundee. It's in the road where my mother was born and brought up.)

Perhaps the most significant coincidence of my life is that my parents chanced to meet at all ... if not, where would I be now? Indeed, without coincidence where would any of us be now?