Alexa, play Taylor Swift’s “Invisible String.”
Their stories were both fascinating, and a little eerie!
Like seriously, my brain won’t stop singing “It’s a Small World” on loop.
Anywayyyy, here’s what people shared:
1.
“I was at a cosplay convention and ran into a girl wearing the same cosplay as me.
She gave me a hug and we took a couple pics together.
audreyschockett
2. goldenlion71
3.
Our flight was delayed and we ended up having to spend the night in a Heathrow hotel.
They were presenters headed to my meeting!”
pinktruck67
4.
It was a birthday present in 1969 for his dad."
dansprague2
5.
Well, it turns out [they] were cousins, too.
They had no idea.
He had no idea he’d ever had family in this state at all!"
graytrees
6.
“Im from a small suburb of Detroit.
We ended up running into him again the next night at a restaurant.
allieadams510
7.
Turns out she had family there too.
No big deal; lots of people do.
They keep sharing information about themselves pleasant, get-to-know-you stuff.
He was surprised and confirmed it.
She told him that she was pretty sure they were first cousins, because that was her uncles name.
katetapley
8.
“I (from California) went on a trip to Rome when I was 16.
This was the second time something like this happened to our family.
Spent the entire vacation riding water slides with the other kids.”
elisabethtrambley
9.
As it turns out, the school she was working at had a new staff member from my hometown.
They got to chatting about how she went to university there.
(me).”
kenjw
10.
“My family is pretty extroverted.
We come by it naturally.
We were taking our first vacation south of the Mason-Dixon Line in Hilton Head when I was 10.
Both sides of my family tended to stay in Pennsylvania, so this was a big deal.
A small world, indeed.”
buttfarts7000
11.
“I am from Texas and happened to be living in Bayonne, NJ for a job.
I went to the gas station and ran into some guy friends.
They were going to the race track, and since I was off work, I joined.
At the race track, someone kept calling my name.
I looked, and it was my first cousin.
Talk about a small world.”
artistictortoise64
12.
“I live inNew Yorkand just went to Florida to visit some friends.
They’re originally from my city, but moved to Florida a number of years ago.
Our moms were really good friends.
Of course we took a selfie and sent it to our families.
It was great seeing them.”
makethingsgood
13.
Lived in North Carolina until the summer after eighth grade.
Moved to the upper peninsula of Michigan.
After high school, I went to a college two hours away.
My dorm neighbor had a guy she met at orientation over in our common area.
He said something about living in North Carolina, so I asked where.
He said the city just outside the base, as I often do when describing home.
I had to have him show me his ID before I believed it was him."
cb83
14.
“I was chatting online with an old acquaintance who I almost never talk with.
We were discussing a landscape photo he posted, which I thought was really cool.
As a photographer, I asked to see his work.
As it turns out, he was the photographer my friend introduced me to not a week earlier.
By the way, my friend doesn’t know him personally and was just a fan of his work.
“I was on a family trip to Tokyo over Christmas in 2018.
One night, everyone wanted to go to one of the giant Uniqlo stores.
I was standing around waiting since I wasnt doing any shopping.
I said his name, he looked at me and smiled, and I said hi.
Fast forward to March of 2023.
We were on a family trip to Europe and were getting ready to fly home from Lisbon.
He remembered the trip, but obviously didnt remember me.
We chatted for a bit and then separated when we got into the gate area.
We ended up next to each other in the immigration line at Newark airport too.”
cuteorca70
16.
“My childhood friend Paul was my next door neighbor in my birth hometown.
It wasn’t until fifth grade that I discovered Paul was in my class.
A customer overheard our discussion and offered for us to pick up some plywood she had at her house.
I found out when I looked through old family photos.”
jennies4783ed5b8
17.
The girl assigned to her was her friend from second grade.
They lost touch again when they both moved.”
By this point, they had moved about six or seven times all over the United States.
As part of the college requirements for freshman, she lived on campus with a randomly assigned roommate.
When she walked in to meet them, it was her best friend from years before!
torbielillies
18.
“After university, my sister started working with a car insurance company.
She was still living at home, as was I (university days).
I answered a call from a policeman wanting to speak with my sister regarding a traffic report.
It was a short conversation.
It was late and there was no traffic, so I was speeding a bit.
He went to his vehicle and came back and asked if I had a sister named so-and-so.
I said yes, and he said, ‘I called your home earlier today.’
I said, ‘You spoke with me earlier today!’
He let me off with a warning.
“I grew up in Wales, but now live in Yorkshire.
Last year on September 11, I went on a city break with my boyfriend.
We were in a pub chatting about the date and where we were when it happened.
Over the years, we’d lost touch, but I always thought of her on that day.
They’d travelled for her birthday.
sarahlouisepenney
20. whitneyvh
21.
“On my 50th birthday, I took a trip from California to my birthplace in North Wales.
Turns out she was a good friend of my mom’s.
Apparently, I looked exactly like my mom.”
cheesybutterfly70
22.
“My grandfather lived in an apartment building in a suburb of a big westernUS city.
For several years, we would spend our summers visiting him and using the community pool.
My grandfather passed away, and I never thought about that building again.
Flash forward 40 years from the last time I visited the building.
I had moved all the way across the country and made a new friend.
My new friend has a friend in the city where I grew up.
selffundedretiree
23.
“I’m a professional photographer and kept running into this one couple at many different events.
There was some downtime one night at an event, and I decided to speak with this couple.
The wife had a southern accent, and I asked where she was from, and she said Georgia.
Jokingly, I said I considered her a Yankee because I was born in Louisiana.
Her husband asked where in Louisiana, and I said Shreveport.
He said, ‘He was my sergeant!’
Talk about small world!”
cleverghost29
24.
It turned out that my coworkers dads parents built the house that my roommate grew up in.
oddhouse85
25.
“Late February, 1989, the USS Nimitz (crew of 5,600) was finishing our deployment.
I had my much older cousin come join me.
One day, I got off watch and caught up with him.
He mentioned that he had met an F18 fighter pilot from my home city.
You’re so-and-so’s brother.
I went to high school with him.
You look a lot like him.'”
majorh
26.
“I moved from Scotland to London when I was 7 years old.
Fast forward to age 11 when I was on a school trip in Wales.
We were kayaking and in this massive tent when another school came in.
I heard the Scottish accent and instantly felt happy.
I looked up, and in front of me was Amy, my oldest friend.
Our mums were friends and pregnant together.”
claireyuen
28.
“A friend was over and we were chatting.
I was telling him stories of coincidences in my life.
It turns out they used to work together.”
“My daughter was at Disneyland and saw a man wearing a Vietnam vet hat.
Turns out he was a helicopter pilot that my late-husband was a helicopter medic with.
He remembered my husband.
radiantskeleton78
30.
I found one of them, so then last year, my dad asked me to find another one.
I obviously discarded that one because I thought ‘what are the odds?’
marissae4e3f72079
31.And: “I am originally from a small island off the coast of the UK.
I live and work in a small town in the southeast US in healthcare.
dafyddh77
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
