A Coming Together of Time and Distance

This happened around late 1973 or early 1974. I was about 20 years old at the time and had been married since July 1973 (not really relevant but just to provide personal context), and was living just outside the city of Fernandina Beach, Florida but still on what is called Amelia Island. One weekend day (I believe it was a Sunday), after getting up in the morning, I decided to go to a small convenience store about 4 blocks away to get a gallon of milk since we were running low, and a paper. I parked, went into the store, and went to the rear where the milk cooler was and got the milk. On my way back to the front of the store, I notice a man entering the store that looked familiar. We both noticed each other and kind of just stared at one other, as we both were in the process of registering in our minds of who we were each looking at, and to be sure of our mutual perceptions of recognition. Finally, the man spoke and asked, “Glenn”? I in return asked, “Donnie”? It turned out that it was my older cousin Donnie who, with his parents, were just driving into town from Columbus, Ohio and were on their way to visit my mother and step-father who lived in Fernandina Beach. If memory serves me correctly, Donnie and I had not seen each other for over 5 years since my parents, and I, and my brother and sister had gone to Ohio on a vacation to visit relatives. On this current day, they had decided to stop at this store on their way into town to get a soft drink, and also to call my mother to ask for specific directions to the house. (This was before the days of cellular telephones, personal computers, and Google Maps proliferation.) After we all got over the complete shock and surprise of such an unlikely coincidental meeting, I told them I would be happy to show them the way to my mother’s and step-father’s house, which I did and also was able to spend time visiting with them. To this day, when I think of it, I am still in wonder about the odds of such a chance meeting taking place.