Is this just an Incredible Coincidence?!.....Amazing!

journey-on

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/26/long-lost-half-brothers-reunited-6000-miles-home/

Thousands of miles away from home, two long-lost half brothers from Massachusetts were reunited in a chance encounter on a Hawaiian beach, MyFoxBoston.com reported Monday.

Rick Hill from Massachusetts, his wife and their kids were on the beach in Waikiki when a man offered to snap their picture.

"He said 'Say Leominster', that's where he's from. So we smiled and said 'Wow, what made you say that?' And he said 'That's where I'm from' and we said, 'Wow, we're from the next town over, Lunenburg'," Rick's wife Maureen Hill explained.

Hill and the chance photographer, Joe Parker, began throwing out names of people they knew until one name in particular stopped them dead.

"And then I looked up and they started talking about Dickie, and I just started crying," Maureen said.

Dickie was the nickname for Dick Halligan -- Joe's father who passed away years ago. But in a twist, Dick is also Rick’s father, making the two half brothers.

"Who would think that you would take a camera from a perfect stranger and it would end up being your sister-in-law and brother you've never met before in your life. Six thousand miles away from where we're from? It's mind blowing to say the least," offered Joe, who now lives in Hawaii.

I watched this interview and was just amazed at the full story. I can't help thinking something else is at play here other than just a chance coincidence.

What are your thoughts?

aSphereisnotaCircle

its frustrating when they give you so little info.

Did the brothers know that the other existed? If not, why not?

Apparently they both knew who their Daddy was, so what happened?

prophecor

synchronicity is a helluva drug

minimus

wow!

journey-on

In the interview with Fox, the brother that took the picture said he hardly ever went down to that area of the beach. He had gone down there that day to discuss (I think he said) surfing classes for somebody, and saw a lady taking a picture of her family with the surf in the background. He offered to take the picture for her so she could be included in the family shot. One word led to another word which led to a conversation and that is how they made the discovery!

SixofNine

Amazing coinkydink for sure.

From a pure math perspective, the odds wouldn't be all that much different if it had been two step brothers who knew each other but who didn't really like each other much, so they didn't coordinate travel plans.... yet they met up on a beach in Hawaii. I know of several coincedences along those lines.

Leolaia

I had an experience like that before. A friend from math class moved away to Nevada and I thought I'd never see him again and then later that summer I went to California for summer vacation, and one day I went to Disneyland and I got separated from my mom for like two hours outside Space Mountain, and I was scanning the crowd constantly to look for her, and then there came walking towards me my friend I knew from math class! I was so stunned I took 6 pictures of him right there at the StarCade. Later my cousin and my mom found me and my mom was hysterical whereas I was amazed by the feeling of kismet.

CoonDawg

Not nearly as impressive as meeting a previously unknown sibling...but my wife actually met my ex-boss and her husband when she was in LasVegas for a convention. My ex-boss and her husband were there for an unrelated convention and the three of them ended up meeting in a German restaurant in a part of town not near either group's hotel. Pretty cool.

hamsterbait

There is no such thing as MERE "coincidence."

I am convinced of that from my own life.

Too much has happened.

HB

saltyoldlady

I believe these kinds of things DO happen. The reasons behind it - I'm not sure, but it does definitely seem like more than just coincidence.

Myself - I had a similar experience re my two Norwegian Elkhounds. They were puppies of a mother dog I purchased many years before - always wanted to meet her sire but never could track him down - Prince Valiant of Northgate was his name. I went everywhere trying to find some old breeder that might have a picture of him. Finally had to give up. Then one day (we had just moved into a new home) on a rather busy road when a couple people were driving by - I was outside working in the yard and they saw the two Norwegian Elkhounds - just had to stop and talk to me. They used to own the breed and so loved them. All their's had now passed away. So of course I asked what bloodlines their dogs were from as I had made quite a study of pedigrees being represented in the local dog shows.

You could have picked me up from a dead faint as they told me the name of their old dog - Prince Valiant - we almost broke into tears together as I told them they were looking at two of his grandpups - my dam was his daughter - and how I had always wanted to see him. Guess what - they sent me the most beautiful 8x10 pic of him and my female had the exact same sparkle of eye and seemed like just a spittin image. She had long since died so they did not get to see her but they took oodles of pics of Hans and Greta. Turns out they did not live in that area - and this was the very first time they had ever driven down that road.

Is this just an Incredible Coincidence?!.....Amazing!

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