Serendipity

I recently had the opportunity to get to know someone who’d been an acquaintance for about five years now. Somehow, the two of us never got the chance to sit down and actually talk.

His name is David.

Among many things, I learned recently that David’s a fellow blogger…which of course meant that he was one of us. And before you have me married and burning his dinner in the house with the white picket fence, here’s an excerpt from his bio:

My journey continues. Over the years I've learned that Life is not a goal, it is a journey. It is our actions along that journey that define who we are. Some things I would like to have done better, but there was no road map for me to follow, and I had to make it up as I went along. I realize now that all our actions, both good and bad, make us into the complex people that we are.
In this year, major changes have come about in my journey. I no longer live following others' expectations for me. I have come out at school and helped found a gay/straight alliance with the students. My wife and I have divorced, and I am now living life on my own terms, alone-- ready for the next chapter of my life. And although I'm alone, I feel a little like Thoreau who says in the play, "I am no more lonely... than the first spider in a new house."
Each step along my path is a new discovery into who I am and who I can become. Recently I contemplated a teacup--don't laugh--and realized it was a size and shape that was unique to its purpose. It was not a mug. You didn't fill it with liter after liter of tea. You poured a small amount into it and savored the flavor. Perhaps I have too much lived my life believing that I should shape myself into someone else rather than accepting the person God made me. Sometimes being a teacup is enough.
I have learned from experience the power of Mary Cassatt's observation: "Acceptance on someone else's terms is worse than rejection."


I liked David the first time I met him….but those hours of talking (and laughing) the other day left no doubt that there was something truly special about this man. Not a surprise, really…as two of my all-time favorite guys, John & James are the ones that introduced us.

All I’ll share with you here about David is this one simple fact: The man awoke one night with severe chest pains and instead of dialing 9-1-1, he Googled it first. Then, he got dressed and drove himself to the hospital. You’ll get no more from me...but ya gotta love a guy who googles during chest pains....the trick, I believe, is keeping him alive long enough for everyone else to appreciate him. You can read his post entitled “The Heart Attack” here.

Needless to say, we exchanged website addys and I visited, I read, I followed. Below is a short film he’d posted at his place. It’s about four minutes long…and we all know how short Kathryn’s attention span is. (Usually 2 minutes is about my limit.)

However. I’m going to plead, beg, demand, insist on this one. Hopefully, you haven’t seen it before…(I can be so out of the loop at times, I know…) because I so want you to have the same reaction that I did...

Be prepared. That’s all I’m saying…