by Dave Williams
I read this story on Fox News a couple of days ago:
A couple married for nearly 50 years had just enjoyed a cocktail on their deck, where they talked about their inevitable deaths.
As they walked back inside their Vermont home, a piece of ice fell off the roof and fatally struck 73-year-old Linda Freedman Scharrenberg in the back of the head, according to the couple’s daughter, Jodine Meyers.
In the porch conversation, Meyers said her father told his wife he didn’t know how he could live without her.
Sometimes coincidence borders on creepy. And if you think about it for more than a moment it can make you question your disbelief in fate.
Another news story I recall telling on the radio many years ago was about a man fishing at a lake while his family was preparing a picnic table nearby. He hooked a very small perch and it made him laugh. Lifting the tiny fish still on his line above his head he called to his wife and kids, “Hey, look at this whopper!” As she grabbed for her camera the guy looked up at the sunfish dangling on the line over his head, throwing back his head in laughter.
The fish wiggled off the hook, fell into the man’s open mouth and lodged in his throat suffocating him.
Sometimes even God can make clumsy work of things left until the last minute.
I doubt this blog is even still in use, but in the case that it is, I would like to leave a message.
Linda was my grandmother, and she is always a hot topic for conversation between my mother and I. And while she is mentioned at least once daily, today was different; today was special.
Mothers day, 2026, while taking a break from her garden work – most of which she transplanted from Grammies beloved flower garden – Mom and I’s talk shifted from one of dear memories to the day of Grammies death 6 years ago. I mentioned the news channels her story ended up on, about the freak accident that killed a vermont women.
My mom was surprised, to say the least. And when I listed off the names of some of these stations, some of which were from half way across the country, she was astounded, saying in the last 6 years she had only ever known about Grammy being in the local newspaper.
Im exited to see my mother when she comes home from work tomorrow, so I can tell her that Linda’s life, at least a teeny, tiny fraction of it, landed on this blog; a teeny, tiny part of a strangers life.
To tell her that we have proof that maybe, for even a moment at some point in time, the will of this wonderful women wiggled its way into another person’s thoughts or heart; someone we never knew, and never will.
Linda loved horses, flowers, her home and her family.
She was hardworking, goofy, and kind – despite the giggly gossip her and mom shared.
She had beautiful hair and a great fashion sense, all of which was passed down to me.
And despite her being gone from the physical world, her spirit lives in parts of our hearts where we know it will live forever. Thank you for taking the time to write this, to mention it, to simply think of it.
Its a pleasure to know she made some kind of impact, so far away from home, even after her passing.
-Christa gates
Christa, I will look into this further and get back to you. Bless you and your mother.