Twitter is an intriguing social media in that you’re allowed 140 characters to say what you want to say. Once a week or so, I re-post something from our blog and periodically I receive an email notification that we have a new follower. Today’s email was that we were now being followed by Tim Wallender.
I remembered his name from nearly six years ago and blogged onto Twitter just to verify if this Tim was the same Tim who had experienced an astounding synchro that we included in our first synchronicity book. As soon as I saw his Twitter tag- trainhater – I knew it was the same Tim. So we’re reposting his synchronicity, which originally went up on our blog in May 2009, the fourth month of our blog’s existence.
Tim, who lives in Memphis, had told us this story took place in Wisconsin around 1995. It’s an incredible instance of objects lost – and then found in a very mysterious way.
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Both me and my brother worked for the same railroad. He was an engineer and I was a conductor at the time. One day we were both working but on different trains. It was the first day that the railroad issued cell phones to the engineers. The engineer I was working with asked me who I thought would be the first one to lose their phone. I said without a doubt my brother would.
A few miles further down the track we had to stop and set out some cars. Mind you, this is approximately 120 miles from where we both started our trip and only my train was to stop there. I set out the cars and engine, and as I looked down in the snow there was a cell phone. My engineer was there also to help with the hoses and we both looked at each other and said, “No way.” Sure enough I open up the case and there was a sticker with my brother’s name on it.
I called him at the hotel he was staying at in Chicago and asked him where his phone was. He said he didn’t know. Turns out his second engine was giving him trouble and it must have fallen out of his pocket when he walked back to check it out.
I don’t know what the odds are of finding your brother’s cell phone 120 miles from where he got it, the same day he got it, and only minutes after telling someone that he would lose it. Or what are the odds of stopping on top of it and looking down in about a three-foot section of rail and finding it?
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The odds? Wow.
Sort of funny too, like the Universe was agreeing that his brother loses things. 🙂
A trickster! Good point, Nat. Nice to see you!
Remarkable story, mammoth odds of this happening.
Mammoth: that sums it up.
I think I remember reading this synchro. I don’t remember when I first saw the site, but it looks so familiar.
Hi Ray, good to see you. We used it in 7 Secrets. It went up on our blog early in its existence!
Both of these stories are fascinating. And how anybody can wonder if synchronicities are actually happening or not is beyond me. Maybe the beach woman has these kinds of things happen to her all the time. 🙂
Maybe she does have this happen to her a lot!
Your story remind me of sort of a syncro about an experience I had a few weeks ago that amazed me and was thinking of writing about it to you but then thought – no, it’s not that interesting to anyone else. So the story of a cell phone being lost and then miraculously found prompts me to add my little bit here.
I often take a walk to the beach nearby. On warm summer days there are usually kids playing in the sand and water and people scattered around sunbathing. Once school starts the place is empty except for an occasional dog walker.
I walk with my head down because I collect one kind of small translucent shell that reminds me of toenails. This beach is mostly littered with mounds of muscle shells that get dumped when the tide is high. It’s not one of those neat white sand beaches. As I was walking I spotted a black object that reminded me of a cell phone. It was partially buried in the sand with lots of debris around it. I picked it up and it WAS a cell phone. It looked pretty beat up and not like one of those colorful designer phones. I poked it to see if it did anything. Nothing. So I put it in my pocket with the idea of taking it home to see if it were a live phone when I got there. I forgot about the phone as I continued my beach-combing for about half an hour.
On my way home, off the beach, walking up the little hill I saw a woman walking towards me pushing a baby carriage and a small boy walking along side of her. She smiled as she approached me which is rare here for strangers to smile – hey, this isn’t California. So I smiled back. She said, “Did you happen to find a cell phone?” At this point I had even forgotten that I had put the phone in my pocket. I pulled it out and said, “Yes, I did.” She was happy and started pushing buttons and it worked. She said to the little boy. “Isn’t that nice that nice lady found my phone.” She thanked me, beaming with happiness that she got her phone back.
Several things stuck me about this incidence. While the little boy looked at me wide-eyed with a sense of wonder, the mother acted very matter-of-fact about me handing her that phone. It was like she sort of expected me to have it. I was the one filled with wonder about the timing of this event. Had I stayed longer walking on the beach, or shorter, I would not have intersected with this woman at all. She could have arrived there when I was no where near where I found the phone. It was half buried and very difficult to spot. It’s just that I was intent on looking at the ground that caused me to see the phone that was the same color as a lot of the stones strewn around. I guess I felt like I was in that spot at just that time to find that phone for that woman. Her response was, while not in any way ungrateful, she didn’t have that sense of awe that I did about the coincidence of it all. Is that a synchro? I don’t know. But your writing about synchro of cell phone put it back on the table.
What an amazing story, Adele! The odds are so great in this, just as they were in Tim’s story. Definitely a synchro in my book!
I’m glad you saw it that way. The recipient of the cell phone appeared totally oblivious. In a way that added to the event – like she thought this was to be expected that I happen to pick up her call phone and return it to her.
Odd reaction from the woman!