(Submitted by reader Jim Hammond)

Many years ago, I was returning home after visiting my family in Tampa. I was driving north on US 19 and would be making a left turn on US 98 to go west to the Florida panhandle.

I knew my brother would be driving south on US 19 the same day as he was returning from visiting his girlfriend. He would be turning left at the same intersection to go east on SR 20 back to the University of Florida where he was in school.

The only place our paths could potentially cross would be at that one intersection. When I got to that intersection I was first in line at the red light in the left turn lane. I looked across the interesection and my brother was first in line in the left turn lane going the other way.

I waved at him and continued on my way. I thought to myself, what are the odds that we would meet?

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[Editor: This story made me think of the times I’ve seen friends driving when I’ve been on the road. I think this happens more often than one would guess. In Los Angeles, driving in the past twenty years has changed in one noteworthy aspect: increased population density has made it a huge challenge to find parking. Several times, however, I’ve seen friends in their cars on the freeway. You’d hardly think it’s possible because of the density, other variables such as drivers’ different schedules, distance from home, different reasons for being on the road – not much different from other reasons we think we won’t cross paths with friends and relatives. Another way to think of it is how many times were you on the road at the same time, and didn’t happen to see each other? – Wendy]