Chance reunion with someone from almost 20 years ago

note: I am okay. I've been busy with work, and looking for my next gig after my current contract ends in late July. That's like having 2 jobs. Last week my daughter and I started the process of ordering the gravestone for my wife, to be erected around the first anniversary of her death. It's a double stone for both of us. It's a little unsettling to see a gravestone with your own name on it! I finally got to see my favorite band Purple, they played two shows in NYC last weekend. This weekend I am finally knuckling down on my book. Love & hugs to all my DS friends.
I want to share this story:
I had a freaky experience yesterday.My friend regularly forwards links to posts on Craigslist about Drupal work to me, he has someone collect them for him, and he's kind to share them with me.One person seemed very distressed about a couple of small things that seemed easy to fix. I couldn't imagine charging anything for such trivial advice, so I said, "Meet me near my office at lunch time. Bring your laptop. Buy me a beer."At the designated time, he showed up, we went somewhere with WiFi and started working. He looked a little familiar. I asked his name, and I realized he was someone my family knew almost 20 years ago.We were hardcore homeless then, but NYC intellectuals that we were, we often spent days in Barnes & Noble reading. One day we met a man in the B&N cafe who offered to hire my wife to write book reviews for his publication. The money helped a little, also it gave my wife some meaning in her life, for a while.And there we are decades later, re-connected through a very chance set of circumstances. I was able to solve his problem very quickly.We talked about my wife's death last year, and how awesome our daughter has grown up. The compensation was actually a bottle of Vitamin Water (my choice) - and total wonder at the improbability of the reunion.He had about 12 responses. He said he liked mine, not only because I didn't demand payment. I told him I am officially part of the Drupal mentoring community, which is why I was interested in helping him.Sometimes over the years I thought about him, I wondered if he was still alive. When we met him, he wasn't well, he had heart problems. Today he looked healthy. He told me he decided to take care of himself, eat well, sleep enough, get exercise. He was similarly happy to hear about our eventual recovery from homelessness, and my wife's career as a columnist for the Jersey Journal.Most of all, my mind was blown. Maybe Vonnegut is right about "karass:""A network or group of people who, unknown to themselves, are somehow affiliated or linked, specifically to fulfill the will of God."https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/karass