Tuesday, January 24, 2012

A Very Late Birth Notice

I'm used to watching a rush of rain water flowing down the street. It's quite another thing to watch rain water flowing UP the street - courtesy of the heavy winds we are getting today. Rain blows east and then west all within a few seconds. It doesn't know which way to go. I know the feeling.

I can't help but write about yet another coincidence I encountered last weekend. Alec had ordered an item online and had been waiting for it for several weeks. A box arrived last Friday and I put it aside, thinking it was one of the items that I had ordered, with Alec's birthday approaching. At the time, I remember thinking it was a bit big for anything I had ordered but then I forgot about it. Anyway, on Saturday, Alec tracked his package online and found that it would be delivered at 3:30 on Saturday. We all picked times that we guessed it would REALLY be delivered and when those times came and went, he was a bit disappointed. And then, I remembered that package delivery from the day before (duh!) Yes, it was his package, after all! What joy was felt in the household!

So, I was going through the newspaper that was used as packing material since I find newspapers from other places interesting. This was a newspaper from a tiny town in Minnesota, filled with Norwegian names, very much like our town (lots of Scandinavian influence here). My eyes happened to fall on a section of the paper devoted to happenings 70 years ago. And there it was ... an article saying, "Mr. & Mrs. D. Cheney were blessed with a baby boy, as reported in 'The Astorian Budget', in Astoria. Mr. Cheney is well known in our town."

I got so excited! What are the odds of this newspaper with this article being sent to someone in Astoria? Someone who actually finds these coincidences interesting? I have read a good book about the newspapers of our town's past, including "The Astorian Budget", so I know of the now-defunct paper. I got out the phone book to see if there were any Cheneys still in Astoria. There are two couples living in Tillamook, about 75 miles south of us. Tillamook is famous for the cheese produced there, lots and lots of cows, and I recommend Tillamook Swiss, it's the best! Anyway, I haven't contacted them though I'd really like to. Imagine, it could be a brother or uncle or something. If it were me, I'd want to have the article, just for historical significance. Should I call them? What would YOU do?

1 comment:

Cat said...

I'd call - afterall, there is nothing to lose and at the very least, it would be a great conversation starter.