SOME EVENTS IN LIFE ARE SO ODD THEY'RE ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE!

     Being a storyteller at heart, when I hear a true-life story that amazes me, I can't help but pass it on.  I know one such story that I learned of a few years ago.  To protect the privacy of the parties involved, I am changing their names in this blog.  But you have my word that everything else in the story is true.
     I have a long-time friend whom I will refer to here as Michael Albert Stevenson.  He is originally from Northeastern Ohio, but has lived in Southern California for the past many years.  He has had the same hobby since he was a kid--buying beat-up old cars of a specific brand and vintage and restoring them to their original condition.  As part of this hobby, he sometimes sells auto parts for that brand of car on the Internet.
      One day he got a call from a man who wanted to buy a part that my friend was selling.  When my friend began to ask the man on the phone for the information needed to send him the auto part, the man told my friend that he lived in Florida.  When my friend asked the man his name, the voice on the phone answered, "Michael Stevenson."  My friend said, "No, I didn't ask you my name, I asked you yours."  The man on the phone again told my friend, "My name really is Michael Stevenson."  My friend then asked, "What's your middle name?  To this, the man on the phone replied, "My full name is Michael Albert Stevenson."  My friend, amazed, told him that that was also his full name.  By this point, both men were somewhat shocked.  But this was not the end of the story.  My friend asked, "What was your father's name?" to which the man responded, "His name was also Michael Albert Stevenson."  Now, totally amazed by what appeared to be a strange coincidence, my friend told him, "My father was Michael Albert Stevenson, too!"  Well, before long, the two men had unraveled the mystery, learning that not only were they half-brothers, but, amazingly they shared the same hobby of restoring autos of the same brand and vintage!
     Having found each other in such an unusual manner, and finding that they had so very much in common, they decided that, despite the fact that they lived on opposite sides of the U.S., they must get together to meet face-to-face.  And so they did!  My friend went to Florida to spend Christmas with his new-found brother, and went again to attend the wedding of the Florida Michael Albert Stevenson's daughter.
     I have heard the old song "John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith" but this is the first time I have heard of such an amazing coincidence happening in the real world.  I think it's just delightful, and worthy of telling, that these two men were both named after the same father, both have the same hobby, and--despite the fact that they live thousands of miles apart--they found each other anyway.  Sort of a miracle when one stops to think about it!