One day, Ted and I were cleaning and doing the laundry. As I passed the front door, I noticed two people–a man and a woman–walking away from the door. Their car was parked directly in front of our house, as if intentionally–not like the canvassers who park out of sight and then troll the street. Thinking they might have car trouble or need help, I opened the door and called to them, asking if I could help in any way. They laughed and said, “No, we know your son, and he suggested we stop in to say ‘hello’ to you.” They had rung the doorbell, but with the vacuum cleaner running, we hadn’t heard it. Luckily, I passed the front door and saw them before they left.

We introduced ourselves to each other and I chatted with them for a few minutes, then asked if they’d like to meet Ted as well. They enthusiastically said “yes,” so I went to the house and called to Ted. The four of us continued talking with each other and none of us seemed ready to part, so I invited them inside. We enjoyed each other’s company so much that they stayed at least another hour, and we made plans to get together again soon.

The backstory is that Jeff and La are currently serving a mission for their church. While they were attending mission training last spring, they met the Bryans (our visitors), who were assigned to a mission in the St. Louis area. At that time, Jeff told them we lived in the St. Louis area, but he didn’t tell us to expect visitors, so meeting them was a happy surprise for us. Before they left, we took a group photo. Here you can see me, Ted, Mary Jane, and Mike.

Mike and Mary Jane asked for suggestions about things to see while they are in St. Louis. One of the places we mentioned was The Hill–an Italian community in the city, well-known for its Italian grocery stores and restaurants. It’s the birthplace of Joe DiMaggio, Joe Garagiola, Yogi Berra, and Jack Buck–three major league baseball players and a baseball broadcaster–who grew up together on The Hill and were all inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. We met at Mama’s on the Hill for dinner and had another wonderful time together. It was even better than our first visit, so we decided to meet again.

Mike and Mary Jane invited us to their home for dinner and introduced us to two other missionaries who lived in the same apartment building. The six of us talked nonstop for at least three hours, and Mary Jane commented to me that “We’ve become fast friends in a hurry, haven’t we?” I agreed.

Another of our suggestions for things to do in the area was to visit Historic Main Street in St. Charles (close to our home) during the holiday season to see the lights and decorations. Their daughter came for a holiday visit and the three of them planned to go to Main Street. We invited them for dinner at our house after they finished viewing the holiday decorations. We also invited Kari’s family, but the guys were all working, so only Kari could join us. It was fun for the Bryans and for us to meet one of each other’s children–in this case, daughters.

The downside of this friendship is that in May, Mike and Mary Jane’s St. Louis mission will be finished and they will be returning home to the Salt Lake City area. We will still be here. Luckily, we have grandchildren in the SLC area, so there’s a possibility of the four of us getting together again when we visit our grandchildren, and we’ve all expressed a strong desire to keep in touch with each other.

You never know what’s going to happen in your day. One day, we unexpectedly made new friends.