When a day begins with a sunrise this gorgeous it may be reasonable to assume that something special is going to happen.
Five years ago today I sent the email below.
On 2008-01-07 at 04:19:19, reaching4Skye wrote:John,
I sent a real email to your other email address.
Sorry I dragged my feet a bit.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Best,
Elizabeth
On January 7th 2008, he was a man I barely knew. We’d only exchanged one email after meeting on a UK dating site. He had a look that caught my eye, and I liked what he had to say in his Guardian Soulmates profile so when an accidental save to favorites action on my part sent him a message saying that I was a fan, he sent me an email that started a correspondence that led to marriage.
You may know this story if you’ve read GOTJ for long, but I want to point out a connection I found interesting in the date of the email above and something that occurred this morning.
After John and I married and I decided that I was going to apply for a British citizenship, I found myself hoping that I’d be approved in 2012 which was the shortest amount of time it could happen. Given that it can take up to six months for approval, I’d hoped my naturalization ceremony might occur around one of our anniversaries. We have a couple in January and February that are important to us. As if happened, I had my ceremony the day before Thanksgiving and after redoing my passport application four times, (don’t ask) I submitted the dreadful form and all the other documentation required for my British passport.
You can probably see where this going, right?
Today is the fifth anniversary of the day I contacted John after ‘dragging my feet’ as I said in my email. I was worried about things that as it turns out, have not mattered at all.
A black car pulled up in front of the house this morning. It looked like a black taxi you’d see in London only without the taxi sign on top and it was totally out of place in our little village. Seeing it through our kitchen window, I wondered for a moment if it might have something special for me.
Why something for me, you ask?
Because I had an identity interview last Thursday satisfying the last step needed to receive my British passport.
And today … look what showed up! You can call it coincidence, synchronicity, or luck, but I think it’s pretty remarkable.
That’s right … my British passport arrived exactly five years to the day that I sent John my ‘ foot dragging’ email.
No laughing at my photo, please. You’re not allowed to smile in them anymore so it’s pretty awful.
Still, I’m pleased as I can be.
And I’m smiling now.
How about you … is there some bit of magic you can’t explain in your life?
Big or small, do share it with me in a comment below.
