Everything Happens for a Reason

I know you've heard it said before, everything happens for a reason. I don't like to hear that too often because, well, I hear that too often. Sure Jacob is bullied and teased and causes us a ton of grief, but, oh well, it's happening for a reason.

WTH IS THAT REASON?

But that's not where I'm going with this....

Let's rewind 12 years shall we?

June 2000: The husband and I had been living in Hell Hole Neighborhood, Texas for about six months. I still didn't have a job. I liked all that free time and most especially the sleeping until 11 every morning, but I was bored. And becoming broke.

Off topic....OMG, 11? Our days are now already hours old by then. I should've appreciated that more.

Anyway, I drug myself out of my cozy bed and hit the pavement in search of a job and whaddya know? All I had to do was ask for one. I got the first one after my first interview. I started teaching second grade two months later and a month after that peed on the stick and found two pink lines.

Hmmmm....

I went from lounging every day to having a difficult, sometimes bed-ridden pregnancy plus 22 students who depended on me to learn to read and, you know, pass second grade. It was hard. All I wanted at that time was to go back home and pretend I'd never been to that interview. The vice-principal was always on my case because, although I had doctor excuses, she thought I was lying every time I'd be sentenced to bed rest. The kids weren't very well-behaved, most likely because they never knew who was actually going to be their teacher any given day and I was just so freaking tired. I did, however, meet some very nice women and the best part of my day was lunch in the teacher's lounge with them. When Jacob was born so early and my career abruptly ended, I was glad to be off my feet, but I missed those women. Oh, we kept in touch for a while, but you know how things go especially with children, you just don't find the time....

Now, let's go back to 2011 okay?

I am sitting at a table at the first staff meeting at my first job in ten years. I am scanning through the handouts and come to the page listing all employees and I recognized a name but then I thought, now there's lots of that surname in these parts surely not.

But surely so. One of those women was now my co-worker again. Her three year old daughter was in my class.

Hmmmmm.....

You know they say things happen for a reason.

I hated that job. I don't know why I took that particular job over another offered to me at the same time. Shoot, I have no idea why I even applied there as it was in the next district over and a 30 minute drive each way. I wondered constantly why the heck was I there?

Now I think I might know.

I find it so odd that my friend and I just happen to end up living and working in the same town when each of us lived somewhere else ten years ago. It's like she was meant to be in my life, I was meant to meet her and to know her.

Our daughters are the same age. They are best friends. Inseparable. BFFs.

Eleven years ago we gave birth to boys within two weeks of each other and then went our separate ways.

Today we lay by the pool and watch our girls share secrets and giggle and pretend to be mermaids.

So as much as I hate to hear it, things do happen for a reason.