While Sheila and I were walking to Grand Central Station in the falling snow from our missionary tour of the New York Public Library (https://brianbrandenburg.com/january-6-2025-stephen-a-schwarzman-building/), I saw my phone ring. Caller ID noted it was a call from my cousin Ron Gibbons. I told myself that I would call him back after lunch. A few minutes later, he called again, so I thought I better pick up in case something was wrong.
When I answered, the voice on the end of the phone said, “You need to bring that book you took from the library back right now.” I wasn’t sure who had Ron’s phone, so I asked, “Who is this?” He said, “This is your cousin, Ron Gibbons.” We are at the New York Public Library and heard you were just here. Where are you now?” I told him I had just walked over to Grand Central Station. He said he and his wife, Jennifer, would walk over and meet me there.
I had not seen Ron or Jennifer in a few years, so was excited to see them. Ron and I were inseparable as kids. We are the same age and enjoyed the same activities, mainly sports and teasing our brothers and sisters. He’s not only a first cousin, he’s a good friend. You know you’re good friends when you feel like you can pick up right where you left off, even it was years ago that you left off. Ron is one of those friends.
Ron and Jennifer live in San Francisco. She periodically comes to New York for work as an attorney representing her firm. Ron’s schedule is flexible with his job at Red Hat, so he sometimes accompanies her. She had wanted to see the library, so when her legal work ended, they went to tour the library. She noticed some senior missionaries finishing a tour of the library and asked one of them (Brian Pitts) if he knew me and if I was there. He told her I was, so Ron called me.
Once we met and visited for a few minutes at Grand Central (so nice of them to walk over there in the cold and snow–I met them at the entrance), we arranged to meet for dinner. They met Sheila and me at Polpette, a small Italian restaurant near us. We had a great time, eating and catching up for two hours. I see us spending more time together once we’re both settled in Utah after retirement.
I mentioned in a text to my brother Glen how I ran into Ron in NYC. His response: “What are the odds of that?” Indeed. We’re grateful for the tender mercies of a loving Heavenly Father who can arrange “divine coincidences” just for us. I consider meeting and visiting with Ron and Jennifer one of those “tender divine coincidences.” (My apologies for those who don’t appreciate the mixing of “tender mercies” and “divine coincidences” but I’m sticking with it as my description of those events that happen, against long odds, just to make our lives sweeter.
