You Have Got to Be Kidding!

Here we are in Palm Springs. Well...we are actually in Palm Desert. We flew into Ontario and drove to Marriott's Shadow Ridge Resort, in Palm Desert...which is next to Palm Springs. We settled in...went to dinner...then did a little shopping at Albertsons. Even though we pretty much plan to eat out every meal...one would not want to get hungry between meals.

Shopping is one of those activities which I simply endure. Kathie seems to enjoy every minute and she enjoys talking to people...complete strangers. She can strike up a comfortable converstation over the simplest detail. That is one of those very special attributes which she inherited from her mother Floris.

So Kathie was looking at cottage cheese, carefully evaluating every detail trying to find the right sized curd at the right price. She did not immediately notice the Albertsons worker standing behind her who appeared to be patiently waiting for Kathie to move so that she could stock shelves. Kathie turned and began an easy conversation about "cottage cheese"...and the high price of stuff in Palm Desert. I walked away to find more essential stuff, such as diet Coke, thinking that the Alberstons worker was probably more anxious to get on with her job than listening to an out-going, out-of-town customer.

Pretty soon I heard Kathie call my name, so I obediently wandered back. Kathie said "You'll never guess who this is...but this is Pete Coleman's daughter...Susan...we're related". All I could do was stare stupidly and say..."You have got to be kidding!" Seriously...what were the odds?

For those in the family who do not know your genealogy that well...Pete Coleman, was the son of Guy Coleman, who was the brother of Lethe, Henry and Dale Coleman. Their mother Emily was Jeremiah Robey Springer's sister. Jeremiah is Kathie's grandpa. That makes Susan the same generation as our children.

Among Kathie's most special childhood memories is walking to the Midway store owned by Guy Coleman, holding hands with her grandpa Jerry...and listening to the old boys solving the problems of Midway... and the world. And she remembers seeing Pete Coleman's baby in a stroller in the store. According to Susan that baby had to be her, because she was the only surviving child in her family. One sibling was still born, the other died shortly after birth. Susan was raised in Midway and knows all the people Kathie remembers fondly.

I felt an immediate bond. It was strange...we had found a long lost cousin and it felt as if we ought to take her home with us. But she did not want to go...she seemed quite comfortable staying in Palm Desert...strange how that works.

So there is a lesson here. Always talk to strangers...you may be related. But still..."you have got to be kidding!"

I always used to tease Kathie that "You are related to everyone in Utah". That was because she would meet people and after a few minutes find a family connection...and I was directly related to no-one in Utah. But now she has extended her range of seemingly serendipitous encounters with relatives, to California.