Reunion with Rose

I worked in a law firm in Los Angeles in the '90s and became friends with a fellow female attorney in our Washington, DC office when we worked on a case today. After leaving the firm in 1995, she and I stayed in touch but our interactions dwindled to yearly Christmas cards. I was married and had a child, she stayed single but adopted two girls from China. I knew that she was now working for the government and living with the girls in Central America. But at some point, we lost touch and even the Christmas card exchange ended. Flash forward to 2014 and I flew to Paraguay to spend a short vacation with a high school girlfriend of mine who was working at the embassy there. While there, my friend got a phone call from a fellow embassy worker, asking about a local restaurant. I was just half listening to my friend's side of the conversation, and then I heard her say "you know, I haven't been to that restaurant, but you know who would know?" . . . "Rose Rakas". Well that was the name of my long ago Washington DC buddy. When my friend hung up, I quizzed her - "is Rose American? - Answer: "yes". Then, "does Rose have two adopted daughters from China?" - Answer: "yes, and how in the world do you know that?". In a bizarre twist, it was, indeed, my old friend, who was in the last months of a government job in Paraguay before leaving to return to the States so her daughters could attend high school in the US. My high school friend and my much later law firm friend had met through the government expat community in Paraguay - and yet of course neither had any reason to think that the other would know me. Rose and I had never lived in the same place and I highly doubt that my friend would have remembered the name of my old law firm or realized that Rose had also worked there. At any rate, my friend called Rose and came up with an excuse to stop by, telling her a friend was visiting from the States and she wanted her to meet her. When Rose opened the door, my friend said "let me introduce to . . . " and stated my name. When I stepped forward, Rose literally started screaming - - so loudly that her daughters came running to find out what in the world was happening and all three of us women just collapsed into rounds of laughter. It was that astonishing. If my friend hadn't answered that call and said Rose's full name out loud, I would have passed the entire visit never knowing that I was literally a few miles away from her. We have both enjoyed the renewed friendship since then and now Facebook ensures that we can stay in touch.