chance encounters

I was on a high already that day when I walked into the coffee house around 8pm. Rob took me kayaking for the very first time (loved it by the way)in the morning and in the afternoon we decided it was warm enough to take a swim at my parent's house in Westhampton. Along the way, we made a pit stop at Grandpa and Grandma's house to check up on them and do my grand-daughterly duty. Poor Gramps was exhausted. They had just returned from Maryland where some of our family now resides. Somehow (by some miracle) I convinced Grandma to come with us to my parent's house for a swim (and give Grandpa some much needed R & R).

What an afternoon it turned out to be. Grandma had a blast in the pool. She doesn't swim very well and she'd probably tell you how her father tried to teach her to swim by throwing her into a muddy river somewhere in the back country of Argentina. She was unsuccessful in her traumatic lesson but managed to survive after swallowing a lot of dirt.

She was very nervous at first but a stop at the store for some floating noodles alleviated some of the stress, not to mention the pool was only 4 feet deep. Rob and I wrapped the noodles around her and she was able to bob along in the pool on her own. It was a great confidence booster for her and seeing the smile on her face and hearing her laugh was a GREAT high for me.

I had a bartending job that evening, so Rob dropped me off in Westhampton at a private party and proceeded to take Grandma home after our watery adventure. When Rob returned to pick me up three hours later, I learned that Grandpa had taken them all out to dinner. A repayment of sorts for giving him some quiet time alone. Grandpa wanted to wait until I got off work, but the day was already pre-planned. We proceeded to the coffee house and upon entry through the door, a woman stepped in front of me.

Are you Natasha?

yes.

I'm Jean Marie. From the blog.


It was pretty cool that she recognized me from my picture and even cooler that she said hello because i had no idea what she looked like at all. What's even crazier is that she knows my grandfather AND while i was living in the Riverhead area, we were neighbors...VERY close neighbors!! I had no idea!

It was a perfect ending to a wonderful day....