This is a long one I'm afraid but I just had to share because it changed my life and the lives of my parents. So I apologize in advance lol.
In 2007, I'd just come out of a very bad relationship and was wondering what on earth I was going to do with my life. I suppose you could say I was feeling a bit lost. I was in my mid 20's and back home living with my parents.
Later that year I decided to sign up on a dating website. It was called dating-agency.com if I remember right. Certainly not a popular one, nor one that had been advertised on TV or anything. Just a small random one I found when searching online. Online dating was not something I had ever considered before but decided to try anyway. It wasn't going very well so I thought about closing my account.
My parents always went out on NYE but this year (2007) they didn't because my Mum had the flu, so we all stayed in. At exactly 11.50pm (I could never forget the time), a very handsome looking guy showed some interest on my profile. I looked at his profile and showed some interest back. We got chatting until midnight. We messaged each other a lot in the new year and met up. We got on very well and have been together ever since. We have so much in common and are true soulmates. I feel like I have always known him and we can often read each other's minds - I'm sure there must be a bit of telepathic communication going on between us at times.
We would never have met if it weren't for that website as we lived 158 miles apart. But he was getting ready to close his account too as he was having no luck on it either. I'm sure fate had something to do with it.
Then around 2015-2016 we were toying with the idea of my parents moving up to live with us ( we now live in Yorkshire) as we all get on very well and my brother had moved up north a short while back too so as you can imagine, my parents missed both their children and longed to be closer especially as my Mum and I have a serious health condition. As our house is worth more than we paid for it, we thought about building an extension on the side so my parents could live in one half of the house and we could live in the other. Saves a fortune on bills
My Mum was very keen on the idea but my Dad put his foot down and said no way was he moving up north - he was very happy down south. Well something happened in 2017-2018 that had my Dad desperate to move away from the area they lived in. The crime rates went up and I mean they went up, especially crimes by teenagers with nothing to do - it was happening all over the very large town they lived in!! And to top it all off, my poor parents were getting harassed by a group of 12-16 year old kids. After a few months of them suffering with that and the police not doing much about it, my Dad had had enough and decided to move up north. I can't help but feel that it was all down to fate, that the kids doing that happened at the right time as now my Dad is up north, he absolutely loves it and would never move back down south.
My parents needed a big enough house for all their belongings but everything showing up for rent around here was out of their price range or too small a house. But right after what happened with those kids, the perfect house showed up for my parents. The right size and the right price and it couldn't have been in a better area. Such a quiet area and a 1 min walk from my partners parents house. It really couldn't have worked out any better!! And this year they'll be moving in to the extension when it's finished. My partner and I have had had so much bad luck but the extension - everything has been going to plan and falling in to place for it. In essence, we have been very lucky. We were given the right people to do the job from start of the planning permission to the builders as none of them have been jobsworths like a lot of people we know who have had similar have had to deal with. So there you have it, I really do feel that it was all meant to be and it all fell in to place.
And just to top it all off with another little coincidence if you're still reading up to this point haha. My Dad (when he lived down south) used to visit his local pub every week for a pint, usually after work but after a while the pub closed down and has now been turned in to flats. When my parents moved up to their new house in a small town up north, he visited his local pub and who should be in there working behind the bar??? Only the same landlady from the pub down south. She was there for a few months but has left now. Also on one of the afternoons that my Dad visited the pub (he's now retired) he got chatting to a guy in there. Turns out he was my partners best friend from years ago!!
I really can't help but think that me and my parents lives have turned out just the way they were meant to. I like to think coincidences happen to show us we are on the right track. Just realised too that my Mum's maiden name resembles where they live now too.