Just a thought… Coincidence is God’s way of staying anonymous. [Author also anonymous; quote often misattributed to renowned smarty-pants Albert Einstein]

Welcome in – and thanks for sharing a few minutes here. I had to share with you a coincidence, a godwink if you will, that happened to me last week.

Around my birthday, I’m always hoping that Lauren will send a message. Sometimes if she does, I miss it; I’m usually looking for an antler-man (what I call the rare deer in our area with a lovely headdress) but sometimes it comes from someone with a big heart. In this case, it was our daughter-in-law Brooke. And it brought great big tears and took our breath away.

First, a pic I shared on social media from the party Brooke and Phil and the kidlets threw for me last Tuesday.

And here’s Hurricane Jane turning into a Category 4 on Saturday! It was wonderful.

You know by now that Brooke’s family, and Rob’s and mine, share “sisters” from the same breeder. Dottie and Sammy are three months apart in age and not from the same parents, but they’re sisters to us, and to each other. Their antics are hilarious and Dottie and Sammy both whine when their playdates are over.

Brooke is interested in their parentage and lines, easily found on the internet. It was she who learned that the two Havanese up the street from us – literally two blocks away – are Dottie’s mom and grandmother! But what she found last week was something else.

Dottie’s grandma has a half-sister (one of the same parents). When Brooke messaged me, “You’ll never guess what Dottie’s great-aunt’s name is,” I guessed Molly, a rather common name and that of a previous beloved pet of ours, and then Jane, unusual for a dog, but the middle name of one on our block and, of course, the name of Colin’s little sister.

Wrong on both counts.

Because here’s what that great-aunt’s name is:

Coconut is the nickname we all gave to Colin when he was born; Lauren was Peanut when she was a baby, and Coconut was derived from his name, Colin. It was shortened to Coco as time went on and he occasionally answers to it, even approaching nine next week.

And our daughter who gave birth to him? Lauren.

Just…wow.

This little dog of ours, born on Lauren’s birthday in 2022, has brought such laughter, love and pure joy to Rob and to me, as Sammy has to our grandkids and their parents, that it’s hard to imagine better fits for our family.

It’s almost as though it was meant to be.

Have a lovely week, and always pay attention to signs. Sometimes they are put there to keep us moving in the right direction.