Way back when I first was in college (1963), I had an acquaintance. Not quite a friend, just a guy who I was in a few classes with (we had the same major). I haven’t communicated with him in all the years since, but he occasionally crossed my mind.
I just thought of him, and was curious about what became of him. So I googled his name.
He had died in his sleep Tuesday night, and his obituary is in today’s paper.
Well, it’s a little like hitting a bullet with a bullet isn’t it? OP hadn’t really thought of the guy in 50 years, and when she does it ends up killing him.
A few years ago I was reading through some old “White Dwarf” magazines that I had dug out of the basement. (“White Dwarf” was a British role-playing games magazine back in the '80’s.)
One of the frequent writers was a guy named Albie Fiore. Rereading through my old magazines I encountered his name again, and decided to Google him to see if he was still around and active in the roleplaying games scene.
So I Googled him and learned that he had passed away only a few days prior!
R.I.P. Mr. Fiore. Your creations contributed a lot to my imagination in my childhood, and I appreciate it.
One day, I was pondering the date of when Natalie Wood drowned. Later, while passing time in the library, I happened to be reading a collection of short stories. This story had the protagonist putting together memorable events of a year for a class reunion, and one of them happened to be the date of Natalie Wood’s death.
Kind of bizarre that I would ask myself that question, set it aside for later, then find the answer in a random short story, where I wouldn’t expect it by looking at the title or anything.
I don’t remember the name of the story or the date, though I remember it was in the 1980’s.
My best friend throughout high school was male; as I was female, and not interested that way, it became problematic after about a decade, when it was obvious that it was going to interfere with any of his serious relationships. So…I backed off. WAYYY off. Like…we dropped all contact. Nothing drastic; this was before the 'net kicked in, when long-distance meant actually writing letters. A lot easier to just drift away like that.
Anyway, fast forward another decade or so. I’m home visiting family, pick up the paper, and…decide to look at the obituaries. No reason; it’s not something I do, my family was in good health and I didn’t know anyone locally anymore.
So I see that my former best friend’s dad was being buried that very day.
I called my sister, who dropped everything, came and got me, and we showed up at the funeral. Stayed in the back; just wanted to give respect. The former best friend was of course surprised and probably confused; gave him a long hug, met his wife, and then we left.
Just one of those coincidences…
p.s. I haven’t looked at the obits randomly since. Don’t want to tempt anything. >.<