OK – So, everyone has stories about bizarre/strange family ties with siblings, parents, etc.
My dad for example has always told us the story how for days before his Bar Mitzvah (the Sabbath coinciding with his 13th birthday) he would wake up in a cold sweat with a recurring nightmare. He kept on dreaming that my grandmother would pass away and miss his bar mitzvah. Of course the big day came and went and my grandmother was fine.
Years later though, when my grandmother did pass away, it turned out to be on the anniversary day of his bar mitzvah Sabbath. Freaky.
There are 365 days of the year she could have died on, and it happened to be the one he’d dreamed about all those years before.
Family Ties Factor: 365-to-1
Next – my wife Ali and her sister Charna live in different cities. Yet they are constantly finding products that they have in common. Recently they discovered they have the exact same travel toothbrushes. Same brand, same colour. So my wife says “Ya. But this is my travel toothbrush. At home I use brand x in colour y“. Charna: “Oh my God. Me too.”
Now, using Walmart.com as a good sampling, there are some 235 toothrbushes on the market. The odds they’d pick the same one – fathomable. The odds they’s pick the same two…
Family Ties Factor: 55,700-to-1
But this past weekend takes the cake…
We were in Montreal visiting my sister Adina. I was telling everyone a story about how I put notes in my kids’ lunches this past week – but Isabella had gotten mad because in the note I mentioned a book I had read her the night before and one of the kids in her class made fun of her for it.
Me: “What was the name of the book again…?”
Adina: “Skippyjon Jones?”
Me: *stunned silence*
Adina: “I’ve never read it but my friend mentioned it once.”
Family Ties Factor: Amazon.com has 226,448 books for kids aged 4 to 8. You do the math…
I know how it goes, lady – I get into the Tdot for 36 hours at best, maybe twice a year. One day we’ll make it work!! (I was teasing you… but I would have loved the visit, of course!)
TRacey….we needed another day there. we came in, celebrated Purim, and left. It was the quickest trip in the history of man. We would have LOVE LOVE LOVED to have seen your pretty face!
I love this weird stuff… LOVE!!
Also: you came to Montreal and you didn’t visit ME too?! The SHAME!! 😉
Those are some very cool stories. I’d say blood is thicker than water, but my sister’s adopted and we have the same types of bizarre coincidences, so it’s it’s more than just that…it’s like you develop some kind of cosmic connection growing up together! Fun post!