Coincidences from other side of the world

Some days I just LOVE the internet!

My Wednesday began with an email from a former Willoughby guy living in Malaysia who read my Monday story online about Carl Roberts who died in the final days of World War I. Roberts was buried in Flanders Field and a Belgian man who pledged to take care of his grave had reached out to find any descendants.

The Malaysia emailer  wrote to tell me of several amazing coincidences: He lived on Wilson Avenue in Willoughby (’61 to ’75) near where Carl Roberts’ family lived in the early days of the last century. His dad was business manager of WE Schools & lived there until 1983; he delivered the News-Herald on that same street & played football with sports writer Jim Ingraham; a fraternity brother Lt. Col John McCrae wrote “In Flanders Fields” mentioned in the story.

Furthermore,  Willoughby Mayor Dave Anderson played lead guitar for Changing Tymes, the band for which the emailer played keyboards in junior high. E-mail writer Howard Fries has lived in Asia since 1995. His email included photos of his neighbors – a herd of elephants. Today he lives in the Terengganu Province of Malaysia – the same place where I visited the Tajong Jara resort in 2001. He says his heart remains in Willoughby.

How’s that for a small world?