One-in-a-Gazillion Chance

One-in-a-Gazillion Chance

Sharon sighed heavily as she looked out the window at the tourist signs, but didn’t say a word for a while. Finally, she exploded, “This has been a very difficult trip for me. I have either been attending conferences or been working on my office project, throughout this trip. Working late every night. You two have had a great time on this trip, but…”

Her husband, Dilip, said. “I’m sorry you’ve been so busy with tight deadlines.” He looked over at his daughter, Darla, sitting beside him in the passenger seat. “It’s true Darla and I have been enjoying ourselves, visiting museums and going out in the evenings to restaurants.”

Darla turned and looked at her mother sitting alone in the back seat with her various documents spread around her. Darla spoke up. “Mom, I’ve been helping you as much as possible. We’re up to chapter 20 now, aren’t we? Only five more chapters to go. I’m sure that we can stop either today or tomorrow and do a little shopping in Schenectady. That’s the last U.S. place we’re stopping before we return to Ottawa.” She giggled. “ New clothes? That’s good therapy, right?”

She turned back to watch the scenery out the windows. Virginia was breathtaking with its mountains and winding roads. “This is so much better than the suffocatingly hot streets we walked through. I know we came for the conferences, but Washington, Raleigh, Atlanta, and Knoxville in late August? Stifling.

“Watch out ahead, Dad. Fawns on the road,” warned Darla. “Mom, here’s a sign for pottery making. And one for the Luray Caverns. Do you want to go to either of those?”

“Yes, yes, Luray Caverns. I’ve never heard of it but I want to do something different.”

After a terse discussion about the timelines for today’s drive, Dilip conceded they could spare time to attend one tourist attraction.

They arrived at the caverns. After paying, they walked down a long ramp into the lowest level of the cave with its refreshingly cool air. They were surprised that the caves were well equipped with handrails, smooth walking paths, and safety lighting.

The tour guide gathered everyone around her and began to explain what they were seeing. The main features were giant lime stalactites growing down from the ceiling and stalagmites sprouting up from the floors. Darla said, “The best part in the caves is the strategic lighting at the backs of the caves that allow us to see the exquisite colors of the crystals. Reds, greens, and purples.”

As they walked from one cave to the next one, they were stunned by the range of colors of the crystals gleaming from hundreds of elongated columns. The tour guide explained that, as water seeped through the caves, it collected lime and other chemicals that grow into giant cones over eons.

In the final cave, three enormous organs had been assembled and an organist played several songs. The sound echoed off the cave walls and came back at them. As they followed the exit ramp back up to the surface, the sweet chords of the music reverberated in their heads.

The entire tour took almost two hours. Dilip was irritated, as he would now have to speed along the busy highway to make up for lost time to reach Schenectady, where their hotel was reserved for the night.

Then he realized that the gas tank was empty. He drove in circles in Luray from one gas station to another. Dilip said, “Because this is a tourist town, the gas stations are charging a higher gas price than elsewhere.” Finally, he found a station with reasonable prices. After he filled the tank, the rain began to pour down. He ran to the door and went inside to pay.

Dilip was astonished to see the cashier was Indian, like him. The cashier asked, “Where are you from, sir?”

“Ottawa, Canada.”

“Really? Do you happen to know the Dattas? Dilip? Sharon? From Ottawa?”

Dilip stared at him for a good minute, then said slowly, “…Uhh…I am…Dilip Datta.”

“Shuuti? The Dilip Datta who graduated from U of T with a Ph.D. in math? My wife always talks about you. You and Sharon were so helpful to her when she lived in Canada. I’m Sam DeSousa.”

Dilip shook Sam’s hand, but continued to stare, “Your wi…”

“Maryanne Phillips…? Mimi Phillips?”

“Mimi?” Dilip’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re married to Mimi? Sharon and I talked about her for years. We always wondered where she disappeared. You both moved to these mountains? It’s isolated up here.”

“Not right away. We got married at her sister’s in New York City. We moved after Matthew was born. Mimi didn’t want to raise our kids there, so I bought this gas station.”

The two stared at each other, still dumbfounded. “I’ll call Mimi.”

“And I’ll get Sharon and Darla.”

Dilip rapped at the car window.

“Are you okay?” asked Sharon.

“I’ve found Mimi Phillips. She’s on her way here. Come inside.”

Sharon’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “Mimi? You mean the Mimi we knew 14 years ago? Here, in the mountains? In Virginia?”

“Yes, hurry. Esho, Sharon, come on.”

Sharon stood inside and watched as a woman with three little children got out of the van. Dilip stood beside Sharon and said, "See, it really is Mimi and she looks pretty much the same." Sharon agreed.

The families sat at the snack bar and caught up on each other’s news. Eventually the Dattas departed as Dilip had a meeting the next morning. The two families hugged repeatedly before reluctantly separating.

Enroute, the Dattas couldn’t stop gushing about the serendipitous meeting.

Darla sighed. “I remember all the times she babysat me.”

“Well, that was a one-in-a-million reunion,” Sharon remarked.

Dilip replied, “When I get to the hotel, I’m going to calculate the odds of meeting her. Bayes Theorem won’t work. I passed lots of gas stations before going to Sam’s. And he only came to work because his dental appointment was cancelled, so I’ll need other formulae to calculate the actual odds.”

“No need, Dad!” Darla laughed. “It’s called a one-in-a-gazillion chance!