It's a small world afterall!

OK, bizarre story! You all know that I live in a very small town and I don't know the population but it's not much. It is growing in size and I'm sure within the next 10 years it will be like everywhere else. Most people have never heard of our town and certainly can't pronounce the name of it.

We have one srapbook store that is, let's just say "sooo 2000" or at least it was. I've only been in there 3 or 4 times. Once when I first moved here and I was not impressed, then a 2nd and 3rd time hoping for some improvements. Well, through the grapevine I heard that things had changed, new name some new owners and so the other day I decided to go in. I was looking for some paper for a PTA project that I'm doing for Taylor's school. Well for all you scrappers out there I was delighted to see Stickles, Acrylic Stamps, you know the "new" stuff. I also noticed that they made a room in the back for crops and then I got excited. I still don't know too many people here so I decided to wait until the customers in the store left so that I could talk to the girl behind the counter and find out some more info about crops, etc...

We started talking, small talk, scrap talk, the "We just moved here from..." talk. She told me she was from NJ and I told her I was originally from NJ. So then comes "what part of NJ are you from?" I told her I was born in Newton, her eyes got big so I assumed she was familiar with it. I said I was born in Newton Memorial Hospital and she said "SHUT UP" and we both started to laugh because obviously she was born there too. She was surprised because she said no one knows about Newton and that is her home town, she is a proud Jersey girl. She has been here 8 years, moved because of work just like us. Anyway Newton was a small lake town where my mother grew up. My grandparents lived near the lake and where a fairly well to do family, my Mom was a cheerleader, on homecoming court, all that good stuff. So Stephanie asks me if she mentions a family name would I recognize it? I wasn't sure so I told her go for it. So she says the name Klingener and my jaw dropped. My mother in High School dated a man named Larry Klingener and he was the first true love of her life. She still talks about him today. She has pictures of him and I don't think she could forget him if she tried. So I said "you wouldn't happen to know Larry would you?". She turns around slaps the counter and says "Larry is my father!" So now I say "SHUT UP!" So here we are my mother's first boyfriends daughter and myself staring at each other with chills. She knew of my family. My Grandmother was her art teacher in Newton and they still have a painting my Grandmother did of her father Larry when he was 18 dating my Mom in their house. So I hope to further my acquaintance with her and see why for some reason God brought us together in this town?