Coincidences in my life started on the day I was born.
Coincidences in my life started on the day I was born.
In Maspeth, Queens, a girl was born the same day I was and also christened Helen. The woman who was asked to be her godmother declined -- because she'd already agreed to be mine.
Then there was the fellow I dated who had the same birthday -- and just a year off from being a perfect match.
A friend of mine from college had a baby the same day I had Philip -- in the same hospital. The only thing that prevented us from sharing the same room was that I had gotten the last bed on a very busy Maternity Ward.
How about the two non-joiners who picked the same year to join the same group?
One very wet,cold June, there was a vacation at a miserable camp that had unheated cabins and only cold water. My promise never to come within 50 miles of the place ever again didn't hold -- in 1951 the route to Aunt Francie's in Lackawaxin led right past the entrance!
After the war,
Dee and Jim got GI housing at Shanks Village in Orangeberg while Jim when to Columbia. Visiting them from Queens was a safari: The 'el' - then subway to mid-town - a crosstown bus to the river - a ferry to Wehawken to connect to the NJ Central - and finally an endless climb up to their unit. When they finally left there, I was done with the place. Forever. Not only did I end up living only minutes away, but parts of the subsequently demolished village ended up incorporated into our
house!
Helen Matcovich, 1990s
