ser·en·dip·i·ty 

\ser-ən-ˈdi-pə-tē\
noun

: luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for

On Tuesday morning, Mac, two of his cousins, and I walked down the street to one of the cousin's beach houses, in front of which we were going to play on the beach. 

On any other day, we would've walked down the beach to get there instead of walking down the street. The street is hot without the breeze that's been present everyday this week on the beach, and it's just nicer to be on the beach in general. 

But the boys wanted to walk down the street, so we did. 

We passed lots of morning runners and bikers and spoke or nodded to each as we passed. 

Somewhere along our walk, we passed a couple running, who by their later account, were out running later than normal. He had on a Washington Nationals shirt, which stood out to me, but I didn't pay too close attention as I was weighed down with chairs, a beach bag and a boogie board and was trying to keep three children from getting run over. 

I made eye contact with the couple long enough to say, "Good morning" and kept walking. 

The guy stopped after I'd passed, turned back, and asked, "Susan Story?"  

Turns out these runners weren't just anonymous Folly Beach vacationers. They were a couple we started the State Department with 17+ years ago!

Michael and Jen had come to Folly Beach with their three children for the week, on their first real trip ever to the Charleston area (besides just passing through). 

There were 4 couples that were my favorites from Jimmy's A-100 class. Last night I went to this couple's beach house to catch up and was reminded why these people were one of the four.  The last time we all got together was at our house in Baltimore. We haven't lived there in 11 years, which means entirely too much time has passed between visits. 

So thankful today for serendipitous moments that allowed me to reconnect most unexpectedly with dear people!