The co-worker walked into my office, as most do after a weekend, to compare notes, chit-chat, not work, just for a moment.

His story began with, “You want to hear something strange!”

This is the point where, at most work places, some people might start dialing up HR.  I, on the other hand, know that a good one is coming my way.  This was a really good one.

Last Friday was the one-year anniversary of the death of this co-worker’s mom.  She had a fight with cancer that turned into a monster that overtook her.  She passed away on May 10th, 2012.

At 6:28pm, the co-worker’s cell phone rang.  It was across the room, so his wife picked it up.  It continued to ring as she stared at the phone number. The iPhone identified the call as coming from his mom’s cell phone.  By the time his wife brought it over to him and he stared at the phone for  a moment, it quit ringing.

No message was left.  The co-worker has called the number several times, hoping to find out who might have accidentally called. Accidentally?  His mom’s cell phone service was turned off 10 months ago.  Sure, the number was probably put back into service and it had a new owner–but how did they get his number?   What are the odds that someone with his late mom’s cell phone number would accidentally call her son exactly one year after passing?

He still occasionally tries calling the number, just to see who is at the other end. There’s no answer, no recorded message.

Maybe we just aren’t supposed to figure everything out in this world.  But what a bizarre thing to happen on the one-year anniversary of his mom’s passing, on Mother’s Day weekend!

Just weird enough, I had to share.

Tim Hunter