Timing in Life

Timing. It can make all the difference. We set goals and plan, but sometimes our lives turn on chance. Serendipity. You miss your regular bus in the morning, run into an old friend on the next one, and he tells you about a job opening in his office. Helping a co-worker causes you to leave work late and you miss the subway car that gets into an accident. You go roller skating to meet one girl, but end up meeting the love of your life instead.

I like to think I have good timing...that I am always where I need to be. I think I have been very lucky, whether we’re talking about school, work, or relationships. My luck started the day I was born. My mother caught the flu (all the news about swine flu reminded me of this) about eight weeks before I was due and she had to be hospitalized. She went into labor. Because of her condition, her doctor didn’t believe she would survive my birth. So my father was faced with a decision. Mother or child? Dad really had no choice. He already had five children at home and they needed their mother. That's where timing came in. While they were discussing options, I decided I had waited long enough and had started the journey to daylight as the doctor returned to the room. Fortunately my mom did survive my birth—but just barely. I had to live with an aunt for 6 months before joining my brothers and sisters at home. Over the next 6 or 8 years, I frequently spent short periods of time with various aunts and uncles and long stretches with my grandmother.

There is actually a funny story about that first 6 months with my aunt. The time came for me to join my family and my father drove to the aunt's house to pick me up. He knocked on the door, but no one answered. He went around to the back, but again there was no response. He tried the front again. Finally, my aunt came to the door, but she refused to open it. Instead she yelled out to my father, "You have too many kids already. We're keeping little Stephen." My aunt had changed my name and intended to keep me!!! My father wasn't sure what to do. He went to my grandmother's house and told her the story. She went back with him and made the aunt turn me over. Along with me, she also sent a huge amount of clothes and toys. One of my brothers said he only remembers the day I came home because there was so much stuff it seemed like Christmas morning in a movie.

Oh, There’s a 2nd funny story from this! Since I came home 6 months after mom, for years the 3 or 4 youngest of my five siblings thought I wasn’t related to them. Apparently they convinced me of that. According to my mom, a new family moved in across the street when I was 4 and I asked the father if I looked like him (after pulling on his pants to get his attention). When he asked why, I told him I was looking for my dad. My poor mom was so embarrassed.

So, what big events in your life were unplanned and just a matter of good timing???