What in the world causes coincidences? Do you suppose there is some office up in heaven that decides we’ll spring this one on Herb?
In 1965, Hein restaurant Furniture Co. Built all the banquettes and booths for the restaurant at Marineland in Palos Verdes, California, one of the satellite towns of Los Angeles.
I was so proud of the job that that summer I took my wife to California to see the job and have lunch there. After leaving LA, we proceeded to Fort Ord. Our son, Lee, was concluding his time in the army. We asked if he could go out of town with us overnight.
He was sure he could but we would have to check with Jay, his sergeant major. He had won enough golf games from Jay that he had been allowed to go with us to install the job at Marineland that he was certain it would be allowed.
We went to Jay’s home on the lake and we met Jay’s family. Of course, permission was granted.
We had an enjoyable dinner and stay in a motel overnight and returned Lee to Fort Ord the next day.
We returned to Seattle and went back to work. At that time we had a display at the Puyallup Fair where we showed our upholstered breakfast nooks. One of the leads that we got was for a lady in Tacoma, Washington. It turned out to be Jay’s wife. As I walked in I said, "Isn’t it a small world". I explained that I had just met her a few months ago at Fort Ord.
A few years later my young brother-in-law had committed suicide on our lot on the Skykomish River. Even though we had had a lot of enjoyment there we wouldn’t be able to keep the lot. At that point a condominium was advertised for sale at a great price. It was a little motel at Tokeland, Washington on Willapa Bay.
We traded the river lot for the motel unit. Several years later Lee had graduated from Washington State University and had completed his medical school training at the University of Washington. While at Washington State he had met and married his wife, Carolyn.
There were some marital issues that arose and he asked if he could borrow our condominium for a weekend to be alone. As he walked in the door of the office here was his former sergeant major, Jay, who had taken the job managing our little motel.
Some years later, Lee came down to Longview to take part in the senior championship golf tournament at the Three Rivers Golf Course. Lee won the low net championship and chose as his prize a wedge, that had to be shipped in. He had called me several times to ask if it was in yet. His Bellingham Country Club tournament was going to start soon and he would like to have that wedge.
Finally, on a Friday morning, Fred Bader, the then head pro told me the club had come in. That particular Friday, Willis wasn’t there so I took off by myself to play golf.
As I was approaching the second hole there was a threesome on the green. They motioned to me to join them.
As we walked toward the third tee they asked me if I lived in the vicinity. I said, "Yes, I live across the river in Longview". I then asked them where they were from. They were from the Bellingham area. They had spent a week-long golf time on the Oregon coast and just stopped by for a last round of golf and had found Three Rivers.
I said I had a son who is a doctor in Bellingham. The one young man asked me what was my son’s name? I said, "Lee Hein". He said, "Lee is our family doctor and my wife has an appointment with him this next week".
Of course, I asked if he’d mind delivering a golf club to Lee. Lee called me a few days later demanding, "Why would I give his golf club to a perfect stranger"?
All of the coincidences worked to get the story done. If Willis had been at his usual place this particular coincidence could not have occurred.