Small world - freakishly so, sometimes

When I take the dog to the dog park, there is a group of people who all go there around the same time of the day and we chat and usually walk around together. It's a social thing as well as good for the dogs, so everyone wins. They are so nice to my dog, I really like that. I also like how the dogs seem to know each other, and even if they don't play, they hang out together very peacefully. Nothing elicits "awwww" better than three friendly dogs drinking out of the same water bowl.

I was on my way out yesterday, and a person mentioned something about the town where he was born. I stopped in my tracks and said, "(name of town), New York"? "Yeah". I said, "My mom grew up there!" Unbelievable. "What's the last name?" I told him, and he knew my grandfather. "Oh, Doc (last name)! He was a vet. Nicest guy. You could take any kind of animal to him and he'd fix it. He knew about small and large animals, such a nice guy."

He knew more about my grandfather than I did! Oompa (is what we called him) died when I was about 5, so I didn't get a chance to know him. I knew that he was a vet, but thought he worked only with cows. Such an extraordinary coincidence. Although if you want to hear an hour-long program about the likelihood of such coincidences, Radio Lab has a really nice show on it.

Anyway, I don't know exactly how old my dog park friend is, but probably 15 years younger than my mom. I'm looking forward to hearing more about people that he knew. I should get my recorder and see if he's got some good stories. Also, his mom is still alive, so he's going to talk to her about my mom's family as well. Just such a coincidence.