This isn’t something I’d normally write about publicly. But I really like the symmetry of this story and it’s been on my mind for a week as it’s (a) lovely, and (b) is still slightly freaking me out!

So I thought I’d share …

Last week, on Feb 11th 2011 – spot the symmetrical date - I travelled back to Chamonix for the weekend, after 6 weeks away from home, while I’ve been studying.

Catching up with my husband, Guy, over a cup of tea that evening, he was explaining his new plans to set up his own server … yes, yawn … bear with me!! He’d originally be intending to set it up in the States, but was explaining that he’s now going to run it from the UK.

“I’ve decided to book with a small company run by proper geeks,” he was saying.

“Yeah you should get in touch with … “ I was about to say my brother’s old company name.

At the exact same moment as he said, “they’re called Mythic Beasts”.

At which point, I nearly fell off my chair.

If you’re still with me, there’s a point to this tale.

Why? Mythic Beasts is a small company based in Cambridge, which my brother (one of the ultimate proper geeks) was involved in setting up.

Guy had never known the name of the company.

So, it’s pretty weird that he’d stumbled across my bro’s old business totally randomly. Among all the server hosting companies he could possibly have looked at, it’s a pretty amazing coincidence that he’d chosen them without me ever mentioning Mythic Beasts’ name.

What’s more amazing is that this conversation happened on February 11: the 4th anniversary of my brother’s death. I’d been thinking about him all day, but I hadn’t mentioned that to Guy either.

Quite a freaky co-incidence, which I’m still totally weirded out by!

I wish my brother was still alive. But I love the fact that it feels like a circle’s somehow been completed, and a connection made between my bro and my husband - purely by chance - and with such auspicious timing. They’d never met, but funny how life has a habit of throwing coincidences at you when you least expect.

Running to Beat Depression:

Oggie died on Feb 11 2007, having battled with depression for 7 years. I am running the London marathon on April 17th – my first road marathon – in his memory (although he’d have told me I was mad and thoroughly disapproved!).  I’ll be raising money for The Samaritans. If you’d like to support my run, and help me help them help other people like Oggie, click on the link, below. I’m not after big donations and I hate asking, but if you can spare a couple of quid, it’s for a cause that means a lot to me. http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/StephLightfoot

Thanks for reading!

Stephx


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