I don't believe in coincidence; I might think, "Wow, this is a coincidence!" but I truly believe that things happen for a reason, because they're meant to happen, because we need them to happen, because we need to learn something. So really, these happenings are non-coincidences. If I've confused you, read on and I think it will become more clear.

In the beginning, there was non-coincidence #1: A while ago, a woman passed by my table where I was signing books in a mall and she ended up stopping. When she left, she had bought Divine Intervention for herself, The River for her sister (or mom, I forget) and Whale Song for her daughter. She gave me her business card. She worked at Ben Moss, a jewelry store I had never bought from before.

Non-coincidence #2, 3, 4, 5, 6: This woman read The River and Divine Intervention and loved them. Then she read Whale Song. She cried through parts of it and was surprised by her own personal connections--some of the characters were native, she's native (or part); a painting is described and she has the exact painting on a drum in her home; a family death occurs in the story and her grandmother had just died; one of the main character's spirit guides is a wolf and this woman's spirit guide is a wolf (she's also connected to killer whales); in the novel, Nana says "Forgiveness sets you free" and this woman's grandmother always said "Forgiveness will set you free."

Non-coincidence #7: Last year, my husband and I decided to look at wedding rings; he'd lost his and I was considering switching to white gold. We checked out a few different stores over a couple of days, and then bought rings at...Ben Moss, but not the one this woman worked at.

Non-coincidence #8: I took a ring into my Ben Moss in Southgate to get it sized. It's the grad ring that my parents gave me (an opal and 2 emeralds) and I want to give it to MY daughter for her grad. I could have taken it to another store that's much closer, but for some strange reason I didn't.

Non-coincidence #9: Today I got a phone call from Amber at Ben Moss. She was going to tell me my ring was ready, but she never got that far. Instead, she switched gears on me and caught me off guard. "Are you the author?" Thinking about it now, I guess I was pretty bold to say "yes". I mean, she could have been talking about some other author--someone famous. Amber then told me that she was the woman who stopped by my table at another mall when she used to work at another Ben Moss location. Then she told me about non-coincidences 2-6 above.

Non-coincidence #10: Someone else could have called me or my ring could have been ready tomorrow when Amber isn't working. But Amber was meant to call me. She was meant to share her feelings about what I had written and I was meant to hear how my books had touched her life. That is the best gift any author could possibly receive! It's not every day I get a phone call from a fan and her words left me nearly speechless at times. This series of non-coincidences made my day--and probably my month.

So the next time you think something is a "coincidence", remember: there is no such thing as coincidence. Everything happens as it should, for a reason that only the Universe/God/Higher Power knows for sure. We can only go with it, ride the waves and learn to enjoy the journey while at the same time sharing our gifts with others. Thank you, Amber.