Oh, hey Dude.

Upon moving into the hospital, Dan and I coined a specific area in the family room as "our area". It is the one and only semi-private area with a couch and a TV. It's a very coveted spot.

That's where we sit and watch late night TV and reconnect with eachother while we pretend our son wasn't dealt the worst cards ever. There's usually a bag of popcorn involved.

About two weeks ago, I left our tiny unit and set out to get the microwave working on our snack and reserve "OUR spot," and Dan was expected to meet me there within a few minutes.

Nope, I returned to our unit, bag of popcorn in hand, head and shoulders sagging a little bit, and explained that there's some dude out there in a white hat, fully sprawled out on OUR couch. Date night was doomed!

Then I had an idea... Told Dan that I'm on my way back there to sit next to White Hat Dude on the small couch, hopefully evoking feelings of awkwardness that would result in him leaving.

So there I am.... sitting on that couch.... Dude fully stretched out.... he thinks nothing of it...

I text Dan, "Plan is not working!"
He responds, "I'm on my way!"

He comes out to family room and casually smashes himself next to me on that little couch. Dude scrunches himself up a little more but still doesn't acknowledge either of us.

Well, soon we learn that Dude's name is Josh. He tells us his story and we tell him ours. There is an unspoken feeling of unity because the three of us are all here because we all have a child in the hospital. And since that awkward meeting, Josh Dude has already delivered a free cord of firewood to our house at the cost of his gas money, and has become a pretty awesome friend. I also introduced him to an equally awesome female friend of mine and so far... the love connection seems to be working out pretty well for them :) .

Life can be crazy with it's wheelings and dealings of the way the cards are dealt, but maybe there really is a method to the madness.