When we moved to Richmond five years ago, we quickly learned that the phrase “Oh, that’s Richmond for ya” fits almost any small-world coincidence. Despite being a real city, Richmond often feels like a small town where everyone is connected through one or two degrees of separation. So when you discover the girl at your favorite lighting shop rents an apartment behind a house you once crashed (and where your sister got married), you shrug and say, “That’s Richmond for ya.” True story.
We recently had another moment that proved the saying right. Last week new neighbors moved in—literally next door, on the other side of our patio fence. Because they closed just before Memorial Day and were fixing up the house before moving in, we didn’t meet them immediately. As anyone would, we wondered what kind of neighbors they’d be and how they’d keep their yard.
A few days later we had my cousin over for a backyard BBQ. At one point my dad wandered off with her five-month-old son to look around. When he came back, he said, “Oh yeah, I met your neighbors.”
Sherry: “No way, who are they? What’s their story?”
My Dad: “Well, they’re Brad and Angelina…”
Me: “Wait, they sound familiar.”
My Dad: “…and they have a young daughter named Viv.”
[Long pause, followed by light bulbs going off above both our heads]
Me & Sherry: “No way! We know them! They almost bought our house!”
Last year, when we sold our old house as For Sale By Owner, we met every potential buyer in person. Brad and Angelina were the very first people to tour the place and were clearly the couple who appreciated it most. We could picture them lovingly moving into our first home. In the end they didn’t buy— they weren’t yet ready to sell their own place— but we remembered them well.
As it turns out, having them as neighbors is even better than having them as buyers would have been. Their daughter is about 11 months older than Clara, which means playdates are practically inevitable. Both kids already seem to adore Burger, so it’s easy to imagine them becoming fast friends. Their daughter even calls Clara “dolly,” which is pretty much enough to melt any parent’s heart.
One evening I spotted Brad wearing a Mountain Dew T-shirt—small details like that feel oddly familiar and friendly around here.
When we officially reconnected as neighbors, we laughed about how small the world can be. They told us our old house even showed up as a comp on their appraisal after they eventually sold their place months later. To top it off, the movers they hired turned out to be the same crew that helped the previous owners of our house move out. The movers started laughing as soon as they realized they were working on the house next door again. Yep—Richmond, am I right?
Now it’s your turn: what’s your best or most recent small-world story? Do coincidences like these happen often where you live? Also, did the video at the top of this post make you want to dance? It did for me.
Psst—one of our favorite it’s-a-small-world tales is from when the original owners of our first house reached out to us. We love that story too.