When a day begins with a sunrise this gorgeous it may be reasonable to assume that something special is going to happen.
Five years ago today I sent the email below.
On 2008-01-07 at 04:19:19, reaching4Skye wrote:John,
I sent a real email to your other email address.
Sorry I dragged my feet a bit.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Best,
Elizabeth
On January 7th 2008, he was a man I barely knew. We’d only exchanged one email after meeting on a UK dating site. He had a look that caught my eye, and I liked what he had to say in his Guardian Soulmates profile so when an accidental save to favorites action on my part sent him a message saying that I was a fan, he sent me an email that started a correspondence that led to marriage.
You may know this story if you’ve read GOTJ for long, but I want to point out a connection I found interesting in the date of the email above and something that occurred this morning.
After John and I married and I decided that I was going to apply for a British citizenship, I found myself hoping that I’d be approved in 2012 which was the shortest amount of time it could happen. Given that it can take up to six months for approval, I’d hoped my naturalization ceremony might occur around one of our anniversaries. We have a couple in January and February that are important to us. As if happened, I had my ceremony the day before Thanksgiving and after redoing my passport application four times, (don’t ask) I submitted the dreadful form and all the other documentation required for my British passport.
You can probably see where this going, right?
Today is the fifth anniversary of the day I contacted John after ‘dragging my feet’ as I said in my email. I was worried about things that as it turns out, have not mattered at all.
A black car pulled up in front of the house this morning. It looked like a black taxi you’d see in London only without the taxi sign on top and it was totally out of place in our little village. Seeing it through our kitchen window, I wondered for a moment if it might have something special for me.
Why something for me, you ask?
Because I had an identity interview last Thursday satisfying the last step needed to receive my British passport.
And today … look what showed up! You can call it coincidence, synchronicity, or luck, but I think it’s pretty remarkable.
That’s right … my British passport arrived exactly five years to the day that I sent John my ‘ foot dragging’ email.
No laughing at my photo, please. You’re not allowed to smile in them anymore so it’s pretty awful.
Still, I’m pleased as I can be.
And I’m smiling now.
How about you … is there some bit of magic you can’t explain in your life?
Big or small, do share it with me in a comment below.
Gifts Of The Journey 
Great story!! Congrats…
I have so many of these odd coincidences that I’ve sort of come to rely on them. I’m not a crystals sort of girl, but asking the universe for what you want… 🙂
Thanks, Caitlin.
I don’t do crystals either, but I definitely believe in asking the universe piece for what you want. It worked for me!
Goosebumps 🙂
Wonderful story & what a beautiful and impressive passport! By the way, there’s no such thing as a coincidence…only God’s plan. Sláinte!
I’m glad you enjoyed the story, Helen. It’s been a remarkable five years. 🙂
I can’t believe they delivered it to you in person. As you know, here we wait WEEKS for it to come in the mail.
Last year we bought the little house next door and I put an ad on Craigslist. Almost immediately I got a call from a young woman and her boyfriend who were very interested. They were driving here from Colorado and wanted to see the cabin as soon as possible. The minute they got out of the car I liked them. Before they had looked online that morning, she told her boyfriend all she wanted was a little house in the forest, and I had titled my ad…’little cabin in the woods’ (after a song I learned in girl scouts, which the young woman knew because her Mom learned it in girl scouts, and taught it to her). Then I found out she was a bartender with a degree in psychology. I was a bartender with a degree in psychology. Then she mentioned that they moved here because her husband was having an aluminum work boat built here. My husband is all things boats, and has designed many, many aluminum work boats. Needless to say we rented to them, and now they are our “rental children”. We love them so much. I often joke that it was absolutely meant to be, and they probably never dreamed when they moved here that they would be living next door to surrogate Mom and the boat god.
That black car was a pretty fancy looking courier, Lani … and my American passport came in the mail like yours.
Your ‘rental children’ sound amazing and what a cool set of circumstances that led them to you. How lovely is it when things happen so easily.
You may not know it but I was a psych major before I changed to theatre and I have some bartending experience too. John built his first boat when he was 13 and had a sailboat when we first met and married. I was a girl scout for a very short time. I can’t remember now why my mother took me out of scouts, but I loved the camping part of scouting. Sleeping in the woods and cooking over an open fire was the best part.
Now that IS a bit of magic! Guess I better get cracking! What a great story for the New Year.
Thanks, Mariellen. It was pretty exciting to see it arrive and the date made it even more special. They moved way faster on it than I expected. I thought it would be four business days minimum and up to ten based on what they’d said so I was really surprised see it the morning of the second business day.
I like the passport photo giving the impression that Elizabeth is wearing a tiara.
‘God save queen Elizabeth’ 🙂
Thanks for pointing that out, John. I feel a bit better about the dour look on my face as I remember, ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown ‘ from Henry IV. xx
Great story! I have had a lot of syncronicity in my life, the one I remember on the top of my head was 12 years ago, when I had walked out of a number of jobs (crazy bosses) and career”opportunities” that just didn´t fit me. I was also struggling with depression. My husband said “sit down and write that novel you are always talking about, I´ll support you”, but I felt that I wasn´t ready for that either. A friend listened and said, “look, you can do anything part-time, like I don´t know… delivering newspapers or something! while you sort yourself out. It will not make you rich, but it will give you freedom and time”. The very next day, there was an ad in the paper, saying a newspaper distributor was needed for my neighbourhood. I immediately walked to their office with my papers, they just took a look at me and said, “ok, you´re it”, and I have been very happy doing that ever since. Looks like it´s coming to an end now, the newpaper era coming to a close, but I have needed all that time for studies and self-therapy, and now I feel invincible, so that´s ok.
I think you look very nice in your passport picture. I look like a member of the Baader-Meinhof in mine (really! no smile, dirty-looking hair, and odd angle of head, like I´m being held down), I´m amazed they let me through the borders to anywhere!
I have to tell you Viktoria, that Elizabeth was in stitches over your description of your passport photo – she was trying to put herself into that ‘held down’ mode.
Viktoria, sometimes we just have to do what we know is right to sort ourselves out. I’ve been there myself. As for the amount of time it takes to get to where we need to be in life, I always remind myself that life really does have seasons and most days I’m just grateful that I’ve been able to enjoy the ones I have so far.
John was right with his comment about me having a serious laugh over your description of your passport photo. I’m chuckling now reading it especially the part about ‘ being amazed they let you through the borders to anywhere.’ I was howling with laughter not once, but several times after I read it … thanks for making me laugh so much today. 😀
“Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight”
Thanks for getting that sky quote back to me, Graham and I hope you managed to stay out of the mizzling rain today.
I love your story and these strange co-incidences happen all the time for me. Sometimes it is not me asking but me being told something…
I also see a Tiara on your head in your passport photo 🙂
Mizzle is Yorkshire-ish Elizabeth, but you’m cummin on me ansom! Drizzle is better.
Congratulations! That’s a wonderful ‘coincidence’. How fabulous that they hand deliver it to you! So posh. In a nice coincidence, while I do not normally plug my blog, I just finished a post that is an answer to your question and then came here and read your post asking about delightful mysteries. I won’t reprint the answer here, but I’m enjoying the overlap.
Hi Elizabeth,
I enjoyed reading your last post.
Maybe I should try your British online dating site…I live in Miami and have found it a bit challenging to find an American man who has common values with me, who is wordly and interesting.
The photo of the pink sky that you posted is gorgeous.
Where is it ?
Do you take these photos yourself ?
With what type of camera ?
Thanks ang good luck !
Arielle
.www.MiamiFeelsLikeHome.com
Wonderful story! Congrats!
Congratulations on the passport! Another huge step on the journey 🙂 Good on you, and wishing you and John all the best for many happy and healthy years using it on your travels! Cheers.