When my brother and I were little, my mother used to read my brother a book called Serendipity. I think it was about a dragon of that name. In any case, it was the first time I ever heard that word, and I loved it for its richness. As I have grown older I have also appreciated experiencing serendipity when I have encountered it.
Yesterday, I was on my way home from the meeting of our writers' group and I decided to stop in Manchester at the Northshire Bookstore. Walking in the door I saw a display for a new memoir called Friendkeeping. Since I teach memoir, I pay attention to such things so I stopped to check out the display. The book was by Julie Klam and she was arriving in a few hours to give a reading. Julie Klam...the name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. I started browsing around the bookstore and then it came to me. Julie Klam was the author of two memoirs about dogs, You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness and Love at First Bark: How Saving a Dog Can Sometimes Help You Save Yourself.
I had never read either book, but I had a copy of the first sitting on my bookshelf. I love dog books and buy practically anything that comes out, its one of the things that led me to meet author Jon Katz, who leads the Hubbard Hall Writers' Group, but unfortunately, I don't have a lot of spare time, so too many books sit on my shelves yet to be read. Still, it certainly seemed serendipitous that after attending a writers' group meeting where I discussed my writing on my pugs, led by an author and memoirist who writes about his life with dogs, that I should stumble upon a book reading by another author and memoirist on dogs. Add to that the fact that Klam was writing this time on friendship and I had just finished sharing with my group that my pugs had led me into a new world of friends and this seemed all the more fortuitous I decided to stay the extra few hours and catch her talk.I'm glad I did. Klam was funny and kind. She took time while signing my books to check out the latest pictures of my pugs in costume and we spent some time chatting about how my pugs love o dress up while one of her Boston Terrier mixes decidedly does not. It turn out that Klam even has a Katz connection -- he blurbed one of her dog books when it first came out.
I walked away feeling happy that I had stumbled upon such a nice evening and shared a little dog talk. How serendipitous!
Writing Prompt: When have you had a serendipitous experience in your life? Write about it.