Win-Win

They're here!  The books are here! 

That is, they're in Tulsa, but they're in hard copy and available for order and subsequent delivery, right to your doorstep!  And we've posted several excerpts on the book site if you'd like to whet your appetite while awaiting the postman.  (If you've already pre-ordered, you should be getting your book in the next week or so!)

As it happens, I seem to have ordered an extra copy, which is now in my possession and can soon be in yours.  That's right, I'm giving it away, baby! 

And because I like you really a whole lot, I'll throw in some other little goodies as well.  I can't promise it'll be as great as one of Swistle's care packages, but I'll try to make it worth your while.

All you've got to do is leave a comment telling me a story of something in your life that seemed fated or destined or...meant to be, if you will.  It can be about absolutely anything, whether it's how you ended up with your dog or how you met your spouse/partner or how you chose just the right college or how destiny led you to a really great taco one night -- anything, really.  If you don't have any wild coincidences or moments of synchronicity to share, then feel free to leave a comment about something else and I'll count you in all the same. 

I'll select a winner on Sunday, shall we say?  Out of a hat or similar receptacle.  If you'd like to sweeten your chances, feel free to make mention of the book (and/or this contest) on your own site, then come on back and leave an additional comment linking to your post.  Otherwise, one entry per person.  (Now, doesn't that sound official and rule-y?)

Comments

[Emily]

I'm not a big believer in destiny or fate, so I don't really have a story for you.

I love the excerpts from the book.

[Emily]

I also blogged about the book. :-)

http://imnotthatpregnant.blogspot.com/2009/06/support-good-cause.html

[Becky aka StinkyLemsky]

When I was in high school, my mom was in the ICU for 16 days with toxic shock syndrome. She was so sick that the doctors told my father they had no clinical reason that she was still alive - somehow, she came back from the brink and made it. (All of her hair even fell out in the months afterward because of the shock to her body. It has since grown back, of course).

For the longest time I wondered what had caused her to push through, to come back. Then, when I was 21 and my father was diagnosed with cancer (which he fought for nearly two years before he passed on), I knew the reason she had survived. We could have NEVER made it through my dad's treatments and illness without her.

It may seem dramatic, but I believe her miracle was meant to keep us from losing two parents at such a young age.

[Jessi]

My meant to be was from adopting my oldest son from foster care. We were supposed to have a meeting at our home then our SW called and said meet me at the agency, we got there and she told us about him. We then jumped in the van to go to his foster moms house. We get there and he takes his first steps. I sit down on the floor and he crawls in my lap and lays his head on my chest. He then grabs the cell phone and dials our favorite chineese food restraunt. 3 years later he was officially adopted by us.

[-R-]

I can't think of a good story right now, but my husband has always said that even if we had each chosen different paths in our lives, he still thinks we would have ended up together. I don't know if that is true or not, but I am happy we ended up together!

[3carnations]

I think my life as it is today was meant to be. I moved here in 1995 w/my ex. He left me. I had a job that could not possibly have supported me. Within a month of him leaving, I got a promotion and significant raise. This allowed me to keep the house, stay here, and after lots of adventures and misadventures, meet my husband, have my son...and here I am.

I would love to read your book, and then I would pass it along as a gift to friends who are awaiting the referral for their second baby from South Korea. Thanks for the opportunity.

[lawmommy]

I will share the story of finding my daughter, since that seems appropriate.

One day, after we had been in the Waiting Child program at H0lt for about two months, I was reviewing the file of a little girl. I believe it was the fifth file the Waiting Child program had sent to us. We had been turned down for one child, and we had sent back the files on three others. There was no reason for us to turn down the child I was looking at, and we were very, very close to asking to be matched to her, although we both felt something wasn't clicking.

I made a call to H0lt to ask a question about the little girl whose file I had in front of me.

I don't know what possessed me, but the words that came out of my mouth didn't concern the little girl whose file I had on my desk - they concerned a little girl whose picture had been on H0lt's site for SIX MONTHS. I had looked at her picture time and again during those six months, but I had never asked for her file, for reasons that are too complicated to get into here.

Within a few minutes, that other little girl, the little girl whose photo was on the website, the little girl, who, by rights, should have been adopted by a different family three years earlier - her file was in my email in-box.

And I read it, and I knew. I knew she was meant to be our daughter. My husband felt the same way.

And six months later, she became our daughter.

There are so many things that could have intercepted this - she ought to have been adopted by another family as an infant, her file had been reviewed by TWELVE other families before she landed in my in-box. We might have accepted the referral of the other little girl...but those things didn't happen. But for the question that sprang from my throat when I meant to ask a completely different question, she would not be my daughter today.

Oh, and, that other little girl, the one we almost were matched to - she would not be living happily with HER meant to be family right now.

[Tara]

In February of 2006 my husband received a phone call from his supervisor informing him that we had received an assignment to Guam (my husband is in the military). It was to be a four-year assignment. For eight months we planned our move, found a house we wanted to buy, bought a Jeep to take with us, got our cat all squared away for the quarantine, weighed the pros and cons of the move (pros 7000 miles away from family, on a tropical island, still in the U.S., etc.; cons 214 square miles can make for bad island fever, wild hogs on base, notoriously theiving locals, lots of typhoons, 7000 miles away from the U.S., etc.). Then, in October of that year I went in for a psych eval at the mental health clinic, a requirement to move to an island like Guam, the thinking being that if you're already crazy you probably shouldn't go to a place where you'll be contained in a small area. During my eval I was honest about my history with depression and the ways in which I had been able to deal with it as a part of my life. The psychologist then proceeded to lie about my mental state on the form, stating that I was a danger to myself and others and recommending our assignment be revoked. So it was. I was not a danger to myself or others and I was devestated about the loss of a great assignment. About 2 months went by with no word on a new assignment and we thought we were going to be sentenced to stay at a small base in Western Oklahoma for another three years. Then we got our new assignment: a base outside of Tokyo, Japan. We moved in March 2007 and it has proved to be better than we could imagine. Since moving here we've found new levels of our marriaged, conceived a child (due in December), settled in to the culture, learned a little of the language and have explored the beautiful country extensively. Although the assignment has not been ideal, as my husband's job is more difficult on him mentally and physiologically than he thought possible, and it creates a strain on our time together, we could not be happier that the assignment to Guam was revoked. Japan, this beautiful and HUGE island, is much better than a small, tropical island could have been for us, my husband's career, and our marriage.

[mischa's one]

I'm adopted and know that my birthmother had three families to chose between for my placement. To be honest I can't even begin to imagine what my life would be like if she had made a different choice almost 30 years ago. Although it hasn't all been smooth sailing (what life is), where I am right now, I couldn't be happier.

[Kristen]

I knew my daughter was meant to be ours when I saw her birthdate. She was born on a Wednesday, 3 years & 3 weeks after her older brother who was born on a Wednesday, 3 years & 3 weeks after his older brother who was also born on a Wednesday.

[Julie]

Here's my meant to be story: I met this cute guy at work and we dated for a bit. But the timing was all wrong. Fast forward to a few years later and I hear a page over our office intercom that my car has a flat.

Now, I can change a tire all by myself but with an office full of guys, I'll get fewer questions if I get someone to stand by and appear to be giving advice.

I run into cute guy in the cafeteria, explain the situation and he agrees to help. I offer to buy dinner to say thank you. We start to see each other again.

Then I get another flat, only this time, I'm going out of town, so I have to leave him with car and flat and he agrees to sort the whole thing out. I just had to trust him.

I get the third flat in the middle of a blizzard and he won't even let me help--he handled it 100%. I just had to act like a true partner and be ready with hot chocolate.

Then he proposed, and I had no more car issues. For our first Christmas together, of course, he got me new tires.

Five years later we still have the best romance ever, thanks to my car.

[Jen B.]

I'm a big believer in destiny and fate. My hubby and I just adopted a little boy from South Korea. The instant we saw his referral picture, we knew it was meant to be. I could not imagine life without this little boy!

[AmyB]

Before I tell my own story of love/fate, I must congratulate you on your own anniversary (a couple days late)! Cheers to love!

I met my husband for a brief moment the first time in Fall of 2003. He'd just gotten out of a rocky engagement, I was dating a man with mucho issues, and we were both dealing with demons we didn't ask for. The meeting was very short but was so powerful - we shook hands, introduced ourselves, and just stared at each other for what felt like a day (I had to actually tell myself to let go of his hand - it was pretty embarrassing). I even told my best friend and mom about this occurrence even though it was seemingly nothing. I didn't see him again until Jan of 2006 - when we started dating. Our first date, I knew I would marry him. As we began to share more about ourselves, it became very apparent that we were living parallel lives - "Sliding Doors" style - running among some of the same acquaintances, attending the same events/parties, but never seeing or talking to each other for all those years. It ended up that we were even seated at tables next to each other that New Year's Eve, when neither of us had anyone special to kiss.

When a mutual friend finally "introduced us" in 2006, we were finally the people we needed to be to be perfect for each other. Had we tried to be a part of each others lives when we first met at that chance meeting, it would have been heartache waiting to happen. But fate - and timing - was finally on our sides. I find comfort in knowing that even when I felt alone, he was in the shadows just waiting to find me as I was waiting to find him. :o)

[AmyB]

Silly me - I forgot to congratulate you on the release of your book, too. Very exciting! Congrats!

[amandam]

Congrats on your book - that's awesome! My entry is semi-topical and regards a movie I saw yesterday, "(500) Days of Summer," which touches on this topic, fate/chance/destiny, in such a gentle, wise little way. I really, really have to recommend it. One of those relatively simple-on-the-surface tellings that starts working its way in after you walk away.

[Amy K]

Congratulations on the book! You know how they say everyone out there has a doppelganger? I've been best friends with mine for nearly 22 years now. We met at a riding stable when we were both 10 years old and hit it off instantly. People always get us mixed up because we look so similar, plus I'm sure we've acquired a lot of the same mannerisms over the years. Our parents have assured us that we're not twins separated at birth, but we're not totally convinced. When we went off to college in different states, it turned out that her freshman roommate and my freshman roommate were also best friends. Weird stuff.

[danielle]

Yay! Congrats on the book!
I don't think my story can trump some of these wonderful stories, but:
When I started 2nd grade after moving to Texas, the first person I remember meeting was Z. We were wonderful friends all through high school, but drifted apart when we went to college. Then, as soon as I started my first 'real' job after graduating, we touched base and he told me he was graduating college. I told a co-worker (I had only worked there a month) that I was going to an old friend's graduation at the same college she went to, and come to find out, she was VERY GOOD FRIENDS with my long-time friend! Now she and I (correct grammar?) have been very close friends for the past 8 years, and it just seemed right that she is my girl's godmother, and z is my girl's godfather. Bonus: they got back in touch because of me, and now we all hang out together, and our families are love one another. :)

[H]

My husband always called my son (when he was little) Spanky. When my daughter was old enough to realize this, she asked for her own nickname, so she became Scooter. They even had their nicknames on the backs of some of their sweatshirts and t-shirts. When they were older and the nicknames were no longer used as often, our dog died. We'd had her since before the kids were born. We were without a pet for a few months and hadn't decided if or when we would get another, when we were contacted by a vet who knew we had lost our dog. They had a dog that would have been euthanized if it wasn't adopted in a couple of days. We debated and debated, couldn't decide - and then we found out his name was Scooter. It was meant to be. We've had him for 10 years and he's been a wonderful pet.

[jjm]

Not entering, just wanted to say I am loving all of these comments!!

[Mauigirl]

Congratulations! I'm trying to remember whether I pre-ordered - should I just assume I didn't if I don't get one in the next week or two? If not then I'll order one!