I saw Stu Grant

I seem to have an uncanny ability to do two things. The first is to win drawings. This might sound exciting, and it can be, but it gets annoying for my friends and family.

When they called to let us to know that we won a big American Girls jewelry box in a drawing, the caller was sure to let my wife know that it was my one entry, not hers or the girls numerous entries, that won the grand prize. When I won a trip to India in a drawing, my wife (the same one) let me know that I was not to enter the drawing to Columbia the following year.

Our youngest son is constantly irritated when he does not win drawings. I think he figures he should have inherited that trait. Perhaps he has to wait until my death and then argue with the others about who gets that.

The second super power I have is to see people I know in random places. A couple of examples: When we were driving through Idaho, we stopped for sandwiches and ran into some friends from Sacramento. In Saudi Arabia, I happened across my recruiter. He looked like it was his worst nightmare to see one of the troops he recruited in a full combat kit. Maybe I shouldn't have called him out as my recruiter in front of everyone.

I have numerous other examples of these, my only super powers, in action. But I am far too modest. Plus, the title of this post is, "I saw Stu Grant". So I will stick to that.

Last summer, I was hanging out on Coronado Island with the kids. After a brief pit stop in the bathroom, I looked over and saw Stu Grant with his boys looking just like Stu Grant.

This is unusual because I hadn't seen Stu Grant since the day we graduated High School in 1988. That makes for a 24 year gap. And, since neither one of us live anywhere near there, it seemed uncannily random, although hardly surprising, since that sort of thing happens to me fairly regular. That and winning drawings.

In any case, tomorrow is Stu's Birthday, and I am in the San Diego area for the day, so I thought of him and his family. If you get a chance, tell him Happy Birthday.

And here's one from me: Happy Birthday Stu! Glad I got to see you and I really do hope you had a good one!