serâ‹…enâ‹…dipâ‹…iâ‹…ty noun – the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.

Those who have read my blog for any length of time are aware of my crazy love of research (LOL) and you won’t be surprised to find me including a bit of historical information here and there, this time in regard to the word serendipity. Newer blog readers are probably wondering why on earth I have decided to dig into this word on this particular day. There is a point. I just need a few minutes to develop it. Here are two of the facts I found most interesting about the word serendipity.

1. The English author, Horace Walpole, coined the word in the 1700s. One of the websites (sorry I don’t remember which one) I looked at quotes a letter from Walpole of January 28, 1754 inwhich he writes, “this discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word.” Walpole goes on to explain, “the word comes from an old name for Sri Lanka, Serendip, which was part of the title of a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of….”

2. A few years ago the word serendipity was voted one of the 10 English words most difficult to translate.

Now I’m ready to say what I really want to say (LOL). On their way home from church two weeks ago, my parents stopped for lunch in town at Wendy’s. While in line, they noticed a couple with an accent. Being curious, they decided to sit at a table next to this couple so they could strike up a conversation with them. They had a lovely visit and my parents invited the couple out to their house for dinner the next day. Having found out the couple is from the London area (give or take an hour or so in our books that is close to London) and since we will be in London in a couple of months, they also invited us over for dinner.

We headed over to my parents for dinner fully expecting to only be there long enough to meet the people my parents brought home for dinner, enjoy a meal with them, help grandma clean up afterwards, and then be on our way. I thought we would perhaps ask a few of the questions I have regarding our upcoming trip to London, gather a few pieces of helpful information, and that would be that. That was so not the case!

Let me introduce our new friends, Rosemary & Mike Leonard. They are the most wonderful couple you could hope to “happen” to meet! Both are entertainers who donate the income from their engagements to cancer research. Rosemary is a soprano who regularly sings for various civic and church meetings. I believe Rosemary said she is going to perform some historical pieces at one of her upcoming events and I do know she was excited to purchase a few pieces of original music at one of our local historical museums. Leonard is a humorous speaker who loves history! You can imagine why we were immediately drawn to this couple – history, humor, music, what more could one want?

After visiting awhile and finding out where the Leonards plan to visit while in our part of the world, what interests them, etc., I was able to suggest a few additional stops which I thought they might enjoy. They are hoping to visit as many states as possible so I suggested a route to South Dakota that will have them going through a small part of North Dakota with a few days stay near Medora. It was very difficult to find a motel anywhere near there, but I made a bunch of phone calls, searched the internet, and finally found something that would work. I really hope they enjoy visiting Theodore Roosevelt country – his hunting cabin, the national park named after him, and the Medora Musical.

We looked at the map and showed them an alternate route to Omaha which will take them to Scott’s Bluff and Chimney Rock where they can stop to see the wagon ruts from the early settlers. I’m, again, hopeful that they enjoyed this suggestion.

After we finished talking about all of the above travel options they might enjoy, we had a little time left to visit about our upcoming trip to London. They pulled out their “diaries” (we call them calendars) and discovered they don’t have any engagements on one of the days we will be in London so they penciled us in their diary and plan to give us a day tour of London including pageantry, history, architecture and culture! How exciting is that?

We enjoyed our visit that evening so much that we made plans to get together a few more times while they were in our area. One day my mom and mother-in-law, took Rosemary to lunch and a tour of local gardens while Leonard visited some of the area battlefields and Native American sites. On their way out of town, they stopped at our home for lunch after we gave them a tour of a local historical area of interest near us which he had seen on the map but hadn’t planned to stop at since it didn’t look that interesting from the road. However, he later reported he was glad we suggested it!! I hope they enjoy the other things we suggested!

We were happy to have the opportunity to show them around our little area of the world and were excited to hear about the places they’ll show us when we vsit their part of the world. The Leonards report they have added us to their Christmas card list! We both count it a blessing to have met the other’s acquaintance. And that’s what I call serendipity!