Serendipity: luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for
In 2009 I did my first triathlon, which was
Escape From Alcatraz in SF. A boat pics you up in SF and takes you (and 2000 other athletes) out near Alcatraz island, and then you jump off the boat and swim into the shores of
Chrissy Field. The swim is 1.2 miles, and the water is near freezing. When you jump the 10 feet off the boat into the Bay, you instantly go numb. It's insane. Then you are faced with fighting the currents to get into the shore, and once in shore you jump on your bike and ride up and down the hills of SF for 28 miles before running 8 miles (one of those miles being on a beach and then up a 600 ft sand latter). I trained with a few friends in SF who had done this race for many years, so on race day I was feeling great about it. As I was about to board the boat, I met a girl who laughed with me about how serious everyone was and how much yelling was going on (people yelling at everyone to get on the boat). The girl looked very athletic - tall with a nose ring and freckles. I fell for her immediately. Once on the boat I didn't see her again, but as I was a few miles into my run I saw her flying past me towards the finish line. She was wearing a US Triathlon Team jersey and light blue Ray-Ban glasses. So cool. So athletic. So beautiful. I was shocked that she was a pro triathlete - not because she didn't look the part, but because she was so nice and calm when I met her. I also thought it was cool that she didn't mention she was a pro. When we met, she told me that she had never done this race before, so I figured she was just another newbie. Sufficed to say, I was completely smitten by this girl. I didn't see her after the race, but that week I couldn't get her out of my mind, so I looked up the race results and figured out who she was from the field of pro's that year. Unfortunately she didn't have a website or any contact information on the US Triathlon site, so I found another athlete on the team and wrote a letter. Here are the exact contents of my letter:
Hi Katie,
I was hoping you could pass a message on to Jasmine Oeinck, who I met at the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon. We met while getting on the boat before the race (joking about the rush they put on everyone to get on the boats:), and the next thing I know she was heading towards the finish line when I was heading up the first stairs of my run. Anyway, this is totally random but I was just hoping you'd pass along my note of congrats to her on the race, and let her know she made a great impression on me by not letting on that she was a pro when I met her. Very cool.
Best,
/Roman/Maliszewski
(bib #336)
I had never sent a letter like this before, but obviously I couldn't get her out of my mind, so I had to at least make the effort to get in touch with her. I never heard back from my letter, and eventually I forgot about the incident.
Now, as I was coming into Ridgway from Zion, Mr O'Leary called me to let me know he and his wife Marty were at the same pizza place they had taken me during my last visit -
Colorado Boy. He said they would be happy to grab me a pizza and bring it home, or I could come join them. I had been driving 7.5 hours, so going home sounded nice, but I decided to join them instead. As I walked in I saw that Mr. O'Leary and Marty were sitting next to a table of four girls - all very cute. They introduced me and then we went about eating our meal and catching up. One of the girls really caught my attention. She was very tall and athletic, and she had funky turquoise blue rimmed glasses on. She was introduced as Jazz (Jasmine), and as she was leaving I asked if she would like to go on a bike ride the next day. Mr. O'Leary and Marty were going to be busy so I figured it would be nice to check out the area with a local. Jasmine agreed to join me and so the next day around 4pm we met on a trail in town. Unfortunately she was dog-sitting, so she couldn't go on a ride, but I joined her and three dogs and we walked for a few miles along a river. Very pretty. It was easy talking to Jasmine, and I learned that she's from a small town in Colorado, and she had just moved here from a short stint in Denver (which she didn't like very much). After the walk she asked if I wanted to join her and a few of her girlfriends for a wine and cheese night at one of her friend's houses. Sure - why not. I grabbed a few bottles of wine and then we dropped off two of the dogs back at their house, which was across the street from where the wine and cheese crowd was going. We had some wine before heading over to the get-together, and while we sat drinking we had time to talk some more. I learned that Jasmine was recruited to run track at University of Georgia, but decided to quit school after her freshman year to become a professional triathlete. I told her that I had done a few triathlons myself - specifically the Escape From Alcatraz race. She said she had done that race as well, and at that exact moment I realized that she might be the same girl that I met before getting on the boat. It was ironic that Jasmine had blue glasses on, just like the girl I met at the race, but I still wasn't totally convinced. At some point in our conversation that evening Jasmine had mentioned that Marty thought she and I had already met once before, but obviously she didn't know this story. So as we were talking I said to Jasmine, "I think we actually have met before, but not here in Ridgway." She was obviously interested, and as I told her the details of my story we both quickly figured out that she was indeed the same girl that I met at the race. Jasmine not only remembered our conversation, but even the exact location we were standing when we had it. She never got the email I sent to "Katie", the random teammate I chose to send my note. Even more ironic, "Katie" was her best friend at the time. Crazy, right? Yes.
This is all the most serendipitous series of events that has ever happened to me. What are the chances? Consider that Mr O'Leary and Marty were going to meet me in Zion instead of me coming to Ridgway. Consider that I was going to go directly to their home instead of coming to dinner. Consider the fact that Jasmine just moved to Ridgway a few months ago. Consider that she works at the same theatre in town where Mr. O'Leary is on the board. Consider I wrote a note to her over 5 years ago, and I randomly sent it to her best friend at the time. Considering all these things I really was overwhelmed. Jasmine and I sat at the table in shock for a few minutes before laughing over the whole thing and marveling in it. I told the story again to all the girls at the wine and cheese event and they loved it. I had a great time hanging out with Jasmine and her friends that night, and when I told Mr. O'Leary the story he was in complete awe as well. It's a great story.
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| View from the O'Leary's back deck |
