Full Circle

So I was one of the 5,000 people caught up in the Gatwick flight nightmare yesterday...it was truly a bad scene. But the light at the end of a 14-hour nightmare of indeterminant waiting and not knowing which culminated in a 2.5 hour wait in the luggage hall of chaos was a free meal at the Hilton. The miracle was not only that our luggage was delivered and not just we got a free meal but it was a chance encounter with this waiter who appeared out of nowhere to greet us- when so many people were queuing and milling about. He just showed us the way to the hospitality buffet downstairs in a hotel where I started my career. The whole scene was a bit surreal because I remembered working on such a night, before Christmas, 20+ years ago in that exact hotel- serving customers like me. Somehow, it seemed a massive cycle had been completed. I had been texting a couple of my closest friends throughout the day- they had seen the news and were concerned for me---so they also knew and really felt for us when I let them know that our flight was cancelled. First thing this morning, I called Nadia- one of my oldest friends---and we chatted about the previous day and how so many people were without electricity or flooded...and suddenly, it occurred to me that I only knew Nadia because of the Hilton. We met when I was in my first proper job after university- I was working as an HR Manager at the Hilton in Southampton and she was working as the HR Manager in Portsmouth- we met at an HR Manager's area meeting and just clicked immediately---that was 20+ years ago. And so, it just seemed right and miraculous that on Christmas morning, I was talking to her on the phone, about the hotel chain that brought us together. In that moment and now, I am full of wonder and gratitude at all the twists and turns in life and of these wonderful moments when I am reminded of all the causes and conditions which manifest into situations- and how without exception these situations are always full of learning and potential---even though sometimes, the question 'why' might appear many many years later.