I realize that I am one of only a few people in this universe that actually even sees this blog, so I mostly write it for myself. And even I occasionally get tired of another "and here's what else happened in Branson" stories. But this one is just too good to keep entirely to myself. So, if you are one of the 3 or 4 people who actually reads this blog, here's another one of those stories.
Tonight, with Dave and Cheryl off, Janet and I had a very busy day. Busy early, busy late. I was hoping to get everything cleaned up and get out of there as quickly as possible, when the weird magic of The Gardens jumped up once again and bit me.
I was walking out to the dining room with our musician's food, and noticed he had stopped playing and was speaking to the only two guests we had left in the restaurant. I didn't pay too much attention to them, but did ask them how they enjoyed their food while I walked past them. They said that everything was good, and I continued on my way, trying to get back to the kitchen to get everything cleaned up so we could leave.
Then I heard Wayne ask them where they were from. "Indianapolis", they said. That stopped me in my tracks, and I returned to them and dug a little deeper, to find out what part of Indy they lived in. As it turned out, they lived a few miles from where we lived, but now--"the rest of the story".
I told them we had lived all over Indiana, in Ft. Wayne, and before that Indy, as well as Columbus, Indiana. They replied they, too, had lived in Columbus, Indiana. But wait for it, it's about to get even weirder. Then, I told them I had gone to Hanover College. They immediately wanted to know when. When I told them I had been there from 72 to 76 they told me the husband had been a professor at Hanover during that time. And. lo and behold, I discovered that he had been my Faculty advisor, my Business professor for about 4 of my courses, and absolutely my favorite professor at Hanover.
He said he remembered a Joe Duncan, but that that Joe Duncan was somewhat thinner than I am. I told him that that Professor Waldo had less gray hair than the man in front of me. We got to share a few minutes of reminiscing, and he told me he hadn't been to Branson for years and years. They had just stumbled upon our restaurant after reading about us in Trip Advisor.
I don't know much about odds, but I figure the odds of seeing them after all these years is pretty slim. Had I not walked out when I did, had they come another night, or had I not overheard them say they were from Indy, I never would have stumbled upon them. I'm telling you, the power of The Gardens amazes us all! Have a great week!
