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BROTHER AND
SISTER
CHAPTER FOUR:
LIGHTNING
STRIKES
TWICE
Written by
Rick Archer
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My parking lot
conversation with Maria Ballantyne took place in April 1968.
I had never been particularly religious during my childhood.
Thoughts of God were few and far between. That changed
dramatically after my dramatic meeting with Mrs. Ballantyne.
So far I had been unable to come up with a single realistic
reason for the uncanny timing of her grocery store visit at
the most critical moment of my life. For lack of a
better explanation, I began to wonder if the Hidden Hand of
God had been responsible. However, that was not a
decision to take lightly. By the time college
started, I still had not made up my mind. In fact, I
had my doubts. Weird things happen from time to time, so
why make a big deal out of it?
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A
very unlikely coincidence in my Freshman
year changed all that. A friend asked for a last-minute ride to the
train station ten miles away. The moment I
pulled up to let him off, four cars ahead I saw my girlfriend Emily get out of
a taxi with a young man named Eric. Talk about a double-whammy. Not
only was I heartbroken to learn of Emily's betrayal, I was shocked by
the utter impossibility of this strange
coincidental meeting.
There were
two serious consequences. First, I gave up on women for a while.
Given the degree to which I had been blind-sided, I needed to take a
siesta from women before risking my heart again. Second, I began a
search for the meaning of life. Including the
strange way I had been caught cheating last year,
plus the parking lot
meeting and now this train station coincidence, the combined
improbability
of these coincidences forced me to re-examine my view of Reality.
I could brush off one coincidence,
but not three.
Over a period of two years, I read every book I could get my hands on
that involved spiritual and occult theories. In the process, I
developed a keen interest in Coincidence and Fate. After careful
thought, I decided I had Free Will most of the time. However, I
also concluded certain things are meant to happen over which I have no
choice.
If it is true that Fate exists, then there must be a way
by which the Universe coordinates Fated Events. Given the degree
to which people believe in the concept of Divine Intervention, I decided
there will be times when we are guided telepathically to meet certain
people. Given that these meetings are often quite unexpected and
out of the ordinary, we refer to them as 'meaningful coincidences'
and 'synchronicities'. I came to view 'Coincidence' as the
most common method by which we are guided to our Fate
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Saturday, February 11, 1978
TEN YEARS
LATER:
LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE
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"Without
Coincidence, there would be few movies worth watching.
Take Casablanca for example.
''Of all the
gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks
into mine.''
Without the
use of Coincidence, most literary plots would come grinding to
a disappointing halt.
"
-- Lisa Belkin,
The Odds of That (2002 New York Times
article)
My personal Casablanca
took place on Saturday, February 11, 1978. On that
morning Mrs. Ballantyne walked into the dance studio where I
had recently begun working. I would not call the
studio a 'gin joint', but it was about as far off the
beaten path as Morocco for Mrs. B.
Stunned to see my childhood idol
appear out of nowhere, I said to myself, "What on earth
is she doing here!?!"
I had not seen Maria Ballantyne since
our one-time meeting in high school ten years ago. Her
appearance today was just as surprising as the day she
walked into my grocery store ten years ago. Given the
extreme nature of this coincidence, my mind immediately went
on Supernatural alert.
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Rick Archer is a dance
teacher? You've got to be kidding.
I never set out to be a dance teacher.
The whole thing was a complete accident.
I never danced in high school, just once in
college. I knew my limitations.
On the other hand, there's an old saying, "Any
man who learns to dance has a chance."
Habitually tongue-tied around pretty girls,
perhaps asking them to dance was an easier
way to get to first base. I had been
taking Disco line dance lessons non-stop for
three years. One day in May 1977 my
teacher Rosalyn pulled me aside. We
knew each other well. That is because
I had repeated her Disco class four times
over a period of eight months. I was
considered a fixture in her class much like
the record player and the mirror.
"Rick, I need a
favor. I have just received an
opportunity at my job to spend the
summer in Washington, D.C., on special
assignment. I would love to go,
but first I need someone to substitute
for me in my summer Disco class. I
don't have time to train someone, but
then I thought of you. You know my
patterns better than I do. Would
you consider stepping in?"
I said I would be
happy to help. As it turned out, I was
good at this. I explained things in a
patient, easy-to-understand way plus I
entertained my students with my goofy sense
of humor. When Rosalyn returned in the
Fall, she received an offer to teach at a
different place. Too busy to deal with
the offer, she suggested they call me
instead. That led to a part-time job
at a Houston dance studio named
Stevens of Hollywood.
In January
1978, the smash hit
Saturday Night Fever handed me the
chance to teach Disco classes every night of the week.
This was the most fun I ever had in my life. It did not take long
to begin wondering if I
could make a career out of this. I had just
started my second month of teaching when
Mrs. Ballantyne suddenly re-materialized out
of thin air.
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It was a
bitterly cold Saturday morning in February. I
was at the dance studio waiting to give a private lesson to
a couple that had not arrived yet. I was just
now returning to the main floor after hanging my
winter coat up in back. The studio was so cold I
thought about fetching the coat and putting it back
on. T hings were
about to get worse tonight. A serious cold
front was sweeping down from Dallas in the north.
The night was predicted to get into the low
twenties, an unusually low temperature for Houston.
There are many Houston winters when the thermometer
never drops below freezing, but tonight would be the
exception.
Just
then I noticed the front door open as a woman walked in.
I was on the opposite side of the room, but even at
this distance I did a double-take. Was that
Mrs. Ballantyne? No way! Given this
awful weather, no one in their right mind would
venture out. For that matter, maybe the cold
had affected my mind or my vision. For a
second, I thought I was imagining things.
Astounded, I
rubbed my eyes and pinched my arm to be sure. I had the exact same feeling of
wonder today as I did when she walked into
my grocery store ten years ago. But
the disbelief wore off quickly. This was
definitely Mrs. Ballantyne. Unbelievable. The moment I saw her, I laughed
nervously as my Supernatural Alert went skyrocket.
Was this was going to be another one
of those special Coincidences that bedevil me so?
If so, here we go again.
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As
memories of our past meeting rushed through my mind, I
noticed Mrs. Ballantyne stop at the
entrance. She stood there
looking around, but she had not seen me yet. The building was nearly empty.
Lance Stevens, my boss, was out on the main floor with a
private lesson student. He saw Mrs. Ballantyne come in, but true to his nature he
ignored her. Stevens could not be bothered to
greet her even though she was at most ten feet away.
Since no one else was around and Mrs. Ballantyne
did not approach Stevens to ask a question,
I concluded she had come here to find me.
What other explanation could there be? But
then the doubt crept in. How did she know I worked here?
Mrs. Ballantyne operated in a completely different
world than me, so word of mouth was unlikely. I could not imagine how she
would have known I was here in Houston, much less
where I worked. And why would she even care to
make a special trip?
Perplexed by her appearance and irritated at
Stevens' rudeness, I
stayed rooted to my spot a moment longer than I
should have. I finally overcame my shock.
I put on a smile and
crossed the room to say hello to
the woman who had changed my life. When Mrs.
Ballantyne recognized me, she let out an involuntary gasp.
That is how I knew she was just as
surprised to see me as I was to see her. I had my
answer. No, she did not come here to see me.
This meeting was a complete accident just like the
last time.
What was the
probability of our second meeting?
Very unlikely. I had worked at Stevens of Hollywood
for six months and had never
seen Mrs. Ballantyne in here before. On the other hand,
the studio was
fairly close to her home located a mile
away. Maybe she came here to
inquire about
dance lessons for her husband. Maybe one of her children
was getting married and they needed dance lessons.
Who knows? I definitely intended to find
out. As I came closer, Mrs. Ballantyne's face
lit up like a Christmas tree. I have
never seen anyone turn on the energy like Mrs.
Ballantyne. She took a big step forward and wrapped her arms around me in a
huge, affectionate bear hug. Then she set me
free and took a step back to look me over.
"My,
my, Rick Archer,
what are you doing here? Of
all the people to run into! Oh my gosh, let me
have a look at you. You're so big, tall, and handsome! Where the heck have you been?
Why haven't you come to see me?"
Mrs.
Ballantyne made
me laugh. I had spoken to this woman one time
in my life and now she greeted me like we had known
each other forever. Yeah, like I was going to
call Mrs. Ballantyne. Rick who? Hmm. Maybe we had known each other forever.
Always the extrovert, Mrs. Ballantyne took the lead. She immediately
began peppering me
with questions.
I
explained how I had begun teaching here and
emphasized what an exciting time this was for me. Mrs. Ballantyne was
genuinely pleased to see I was doing well in my
life. In fact, she was fascinated by my odd
new career. Unfortunately, our brief talk was
interrupted when my private lesson couple arrived.
I pointed to the people who had just walked in the
door and said, "Gosh,
Mrs. Ballantyne, I would love to talk more, but I have
these dance students waiting
for me."
Unwilling to part without
learning more, Mrs. Ballantyne asked if I was
free for lunch. Of
course I was free. I would have dropped
anything just to have another talk with
her. This lady had no way of knowing the
degree of importance she had played in my life. After all, I had
spent all four years of college periodically thinking about
the mystic implications of our
parking lot conversation.
"Yes, I
would love to have lunch with you, but can it wait till
11:30 or noon? Will that work?"
Mrs. Ballantyne smiled
and said that would be fine. "Of course. Why not come
over at noon? That will give me time to run
some errands."
I was
confused. Did she mean lunch at her
house? "Where do you want to meet?"
I asked.
"My
house. Do you know where it is?"
Although
I did indeed know the location, I played dumb.
When Katina won the scholarship I had counted on, I
had driven by her house to confirm she lived in
River Oaks, the most expensive real estate in
Houston. Mrs. B gave me the address and
directions, then abruptly departed. As I watched her go
out the door, I still had
no idea why Mrs. Ballantyne had come here in the first place.
Why did she leave
so fast? Her departure made no sense. Surely she had to have a reason to
walk in the door. I rolled my eyes.
Why is this woman always such a riddle to me!?
As I
drove to the Ballantyne home after my lesson was
over, I had a lot on my mind.
Ten years had
passed since Mrs. Ballantyne's mind-altering Parking
Lot intervention. During that time,
memories of this remarkable woman had never left my mind. Indeed,
my preoccupation with Fate had elevated Mrs.
Ballantyne to a mythical status.
What could explain
the ten year gap? The thing to
understand is that Mrs. Ballantyne and I
came from different walks of life. It
had taken a remarkable set of circumstances
to get me into a rich kids school like St.
John's for nine
years. Those days were long
gone. In 1978 Mrs. Ballantyne was a
socialite who occupied
lofty circles to which I was not
invited. She was a Patrician, I was a
Plebian. I can't put it more bluntly
than that. So imagine
my shock when Mrs. B walked into the dance
studio.
The
last thing I ever expected was to have my so-called Fairy Godmother reappear at
my obscure place of work.
They
talk about 'once in a
lifetime' chance meetings. This was twice in a
lifetime.
Lightning had just struck for a second time.
What were the odds?
With my
mind working overtime on Supernatural Alert, I
concluded Mrs.
Ballantyne had come to my studio for some
reason that became unimportant once she
saw me. Figuring the Cosmic Social Director had arranged
this new Supernatural encounter just like the first
time, I left it at that.
Sometimes it is easier just to accept Fate and not
ask too many questions. What was important was
my childhood idol had invited me to her home.
Considering I had expected a coffee shop or
modest restaurant, I
felt flattered. Maybe
I would learn the reason she had appeared at the
studio today. For matter, I could finally
ask what had brought her to my grocery store ten
years ago. I was intensely curious to know
what awaited me. In the meantime, I made a
mental note to add this visit to my Supernatural
List.
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RICK ARCHER'S LIST OF
SUSPECTED FATED EVENTS
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THE MAGIC CARPET RIDE |
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060 |
Serious |
Coincidence |
1978 |
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Maria
Ballantyne appears out of nowhere to surprise Rick at his dance studio.
After inviting him to lunch, that afternoon she proceeds to tell Rick her life
story. |
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057 |
Serious |
Lucky Break
Coincidence |
1977 |
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Out of the blue, Lance Stevens offers Rick a Disco Line Dance class job.
Right place at the Right Time. Upon the debut of Saturday Night
Fever, this job would prove to be Rick's Big Break, Stepping Stone Number Three |
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056 |
Suspicious |
Lucky
Break |
1977 |
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Rosalyn's Gift of line dance class at Memorial JCC becomes Stepping
Stone Number Two |
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054 |
Serious |
Lucky Break
Coincidence |
1977 |
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One week after a
bizarre bomb threat interrupts Rick's first-ever opportunity
to teach a line dance class, Rosalyn offers Rick a job teaching for the
summer at the JCC.
This becomes Stepping Stone Number One |
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JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY |
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025 |
Serious |
Unlucky Break
Coincidence |
1968 |
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Rick has a narrow two minute window to spot Emily and Eric get out of a
taxi at the Baltimore train station |
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ST. JOHN'S |
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021 |
Serious |
Coincidence
Lucky Break
Cosmic Blindness |
1968 |
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Mrs. Ballantyne fails to notice Rick at SJS for 9 years only to
magically appear during the most serious crisis of his life. The
ensuing conversation in the grocery store parking lot gives Rick the
hope to carry on. |
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020 |
Serious |
Coincidence
Unlucky Break
Cosmic Blindness |
1968 |
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Caught cheating on German test
due to a very improbable coincidence. The
unacceptable loss of common sense led to the development of Rick's
Cosmic Blindness theory |
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