What is the odds ?
What is the odds that someone with the same last name as you will be at the campground in the same area ?, 2 weeks ago when I arrived at the campground I found the attendants had gave my spot to some...
Forum Discussion
When we arrived in Sydney, Australia for a 3 year expat, one of the first places we went to equip our "bungalow" (Strine for rancher) was Chatswood Chase shopping mall.
While strolling, DW suddenly shouted "There's a sign for Stoloff Estate Jewelry". Being the semi-smart aleck, she rolled up to the counter and asked the clerk "I'm here for the 50% Stoloff family discount."
This befuddled her so she went in back to get the owner. When he walked out, we gasped, because he was the spitting image of my late father! Furthermore, his name is Barney, and my dad's name was Bernie (Bernard).
After lots of discussion, we discovered that there were 3 branches of my dad's ancestors in Eastern Europe who emigrated in the late 1800's: 1 went to America (my dad's grandfather), 1 went to Argentina, and the last to England. His 2 sons both left the UK -- 1 went to South Africa and his brother was our Aussie jeweler (Barney)!
The similarities were so pronounced that, when we sent photos back to my mother in FL, she said "Where did you get these photos of your father? I haven't seen them before."
Over the next 3 years, we spent time with Barney and his wife, as well as his brother Wolfie and his wife, because Wolfie's son and daughter were studying medicine in Sydney.
We had never known about these other branches of our family tree, and likely would never have learned about them if we hadn't gone shopping!
While strolling, DW suddenly shouted "There's a sign for Stoloff Estate Jewelry". Being the semi-smart aleck, she rolled up to the counter and asked the clerk "I'm here for the 50% Stoloff family discount."
This befuddled her so she went in back to get the owner. When he walked out, we gasped, because he was the spitting image of my late father! Furthermore, his name is Barney, and my dad's name was Bernie (Bernard).
After lots of discussion, we discovered that there were 3 branches of my dad's ancestors in Eastern Europe who emigrated in the late 1800's: 1 went to America (my dad's grandfather), 1 went to Argentina, and the last to England. His 2 sons both left the UK -- 1 went to South Africa and his brother was our Aussie jeweler (Barney)!
The similarities were so pronounced that, when we sent photos back to my mother in FL, she said "Where did you get these photos of your father? I haven't seen them before."
Over the next 3 years, we spent time with Barney and his wife, as well as his brother Wolfie and his wife, because Wolfie's son and daughter were studying medicine in Sydney.
We had never known about these other branches of our family tree, and likely would never have learned about them if we hadn't gone shopping!
