It is a Small World

I live in Fredericton, NB, Canada. I am an Electrical Engineer and I worked at NB Power for 36 years before I retired in 2015. Recently my wife, Dawna, and I went to Alberta for a 2 week visit with several of our family members. During that time, I played pickleball in Ardrossan, Edmonton, Lethbridge and I attempted to play in Calgary. On Friday, September 8, 2017, I went to the West Hillhurst facility to play at noon. According to their website pickleball was scheduled from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM.

When I arrived, there were not any pickleball nets up in the gym but there was one man with a ball cap on hitting a pickleball up against the wall. Since I wanted to play I walked over to the man and asked, 'Are you playing with all your friends?'. He looked up at me and said, 'I know you, you are Alden Briggs. Do you know who I am?' Well I was somewhat in shock as I did not initially recognize this now mysterious man under the ball cap. So I had a closer look. After a moment of soul searching, I recognized him as possibly Ivan Harvey so I said, 'You are Ivan?'.

Ivan Harvey used to work for NB Power but he resigned in 1992 and moved to Calgary. I did not work with Ivan directly prior to 1992 but I did know him and I remembered when he left. Ivan and his wife Patricia have lived in the same home in Calgary for 25 years since the move. Ivan invited me out to his home so I went and had a wonderful lunch and a very nice chat with the two of them.

Calgary has a population of 1.3 million people and is 4,500 km (2,800 miles) from Fredericton so the odds of me knowing that random person in the gym that day are pretty slim.

It truly is a small world!