An Unlikely Reunion

I've come across many coincidences through the years, but this one may be the most startling. While on a solo trek through Nepal back in 1982, I became very ill and bumped into a young German, a medical student named Ranier, who helped me down out of the mountains so I could find medical help. We wound up talking along the way, and when he asked me what I did, I mentioned (among other things) that I was currently writing a book about "synchronicity." He had never heard the term before, so I explained to him the notion of "meaningful coincidence." Though he was skeptical of the idea, he admitted he’d experienced some pretty amazing coincidences himself. When I asked, "Like what?", he proceeded to tell me the following story: 

Back in Germany several years earlier, a friend of his asked if he’d like to travel to America with him for a week, to Los Angeles, all expenses paid. Apparently, the friend's girlfriend just backed out of the trip they had been planning, and rather than travel by himself he decided to ask Ranier if he wanted to use the ticket, to keep him company. So the two of them flew to L.A. a couple of days later and stayed at an associate’s house.

 But one afternoon, Ranier was hanging out at the house by himself when the doorbell rang. Upon answering it, he was shocked to discover it was another one of his friends from back in Germany---his very closest friend, in fact--standing there with jaw equally agape. Turns out neither one of them had known the other was traveling to the United States, since both of their trips had been unexpected. His friend had been driving around the city that afternoon and became lost, and decided to pick a house at random to ring the doorbell to ask for directions—and lo and behold, there stood his friend Ranier from back in Germany, answering it. (P.S. My book did eventually get published in '96--The Waking Dream--though to my great regret, I didn't write down Ranier's last name when this encounter happened, so have been unable to track him down since that time.)