Serendipity at the public library

Last night Nathan and I took Autumn to our local library in an effort to get one TV-free evening.  That child watches way too much television.  Just this past week we found out she knows who Hannah Montana is and that show is never on in our house.  Nathan dislikes any show with overly dramatic pre-teens, though “iCarly” is starting to grow on him.

We first checked out the section of used books for sale.  Autumn sat down on the floor and proceeded to go through the pile of children’s books much like she does her own books at home, which entails looking for something interesting and tossng the rest over her shoulder.

In the children’s section of the library she showed little interest in the books.  Instead, she hung out by the sofas and played with the various puzzles and toys spread across the tables.  Also sitting on the sofas were a woman and her son.  The son, whose name we learned was Christopher, had Down Syndrome.  His mother was a beautiful blonde with sun-bronzed skin and an Eastern European accent.  I wanted to ask her where she was from, but I always feel like such a dork when I ask questions like that since I’m about the most boring person you could ever encounter in a library.

Christopher’s mother and I sat on the sofas and chatted while Nathan searched for books for Autumn.  Once in awhile there would be a little interaction between Autumn and Christoper, but for the most part they each did their own thing.  At one point Christopher got down on the floor and crawled over to Autumn and patted her on the leg.  Autumn recoiled a bit.  Apparently the girl takes after her mother and does not like to be pawed by the opposite sex.  Christopher’s mother (whose name I never learned) assured Autumn that Christopher was only trying to show affection.

We found out Christopher is just a week older than Autumn.  Because of his developmental delays, he looks and acts like a much younger child, but I thought it was kind of neat that these two kids who were born only a few days apart somehow found each other in the library.  I also thought it was kind of cool that his mom and I were pregnant at the same time.  From the looks of it, her body has recovered much better than mine has.

Eventually a little girl and her father entered the children’s section.  The girl, who we learned was named Alisa, gravitated towards Autumn and the two concentrated on a puzzle while her dad sat down and chatted with us.  He was braver than I and asked Christopher’s mother where she was from because his wife is from Moscow.  As it turns out, Christopher’s mother is also from Russia and learned English by working at Marshall Field’s.

Here’s where the coincedences continue.  While a year older, Alisa’s birthay is a week after Autumn’s and her mother’s birthday is also in November (like mine).  Not only that, but her father is a faculty member at the university where I work and go to school.  Christopher’s grandmother, who joined our party after checking out her books, revealed that she, too, had worked at the university long ago when the entire student body consisted of fewer people than we now see in our freshman class alone.

Having no ties to Russia or the university, Nathan felt a little left out of the conversation, but after we left the library I tried to impress upon him the wonder of what had happened.  Three families, all with very diverse backgrounds, somehow happened upon each other by accident only to find out we actually have a lot in common.  I like how the world works sometimes and how these connections, however temporary, can feel so magical.