One mildly interesting story of coincidence in my family. My parents lived in a very small village quite some distance from where they were both born. When visiting the church, we noticed a sign showing the names of the previous vicars, and one of them was almost the same as our family name, with one letter different. Some years later a relative did some research on our family tree and I followed it up with a bit more detail. Turns out the vicar was in fact my great-great-great-great-grand-father (b. 1781). He married into a farming family, and several generations farmed somewhat nearer to where my parents were born, and those farms still exist along with headstones in the local churchyard.

I, personally, don't believe that the spirits of loved ones watch over us or communicate with us, but many do, and if I'm being honest, I sometimes wish that I did. I imagine those beliefs bring people comfort, but I just don't have them. I honestly don't know if that makes me better off, or worse. But I don't suppose it matters much.

I find it quite disturbing how many of these seem to actually believe that there's something more than coincidence at play. Nom that butterfly/deer is not the spirit of your departed loved one.

Meh. Most of these are stretching it a bit...but there were just enough goosebump-poppers to keep me reading. My only coincidental story is that my parents were in an antique mall on the other side of the state and bought the most horrible picture just for the frame. They got it home, Dad popped the frame, and the address of their house was written across the back of the picture. We reframed it and hung it in our dining room. Just in case.

i have a pic of me and my dad wearing the same white t-shirt, the same plaid jacket, and the same shade of blue jeans and black sneakers. we showed up for a surprise visit bc he was back early from a long haul (hes a truck driver) he didnt know we were coming and neither of us knew what the other was wearing. momma (step mom, but she momma to me) snapped a picture. theres no doubt we are dad and daughter. we have the same face shape, same smile, same hair color and eye color. i love that picture

Remarkable coincidences ? Or....

My brother had intended to take Mom to the opening of the Lake Placid Olympics, but he passed a few years earlier. Mom and her cat were in the living room to watch the opening on TV, when the cat went to the door, hissing and spitting. She mildly freaked out during the entire opening, which was several hours. The minute the opening was over, the cat started acting normally again. Mom said my brother came to watch with her.

For many of these, I think, people are not *finding* meaning in them so much as they are being reminded and reassured of meaning. It's serendipity; that is, not a *supernatural* coincidence, but the wonderful ability of human beings to spot a freak occurrence and to see very real meaning in it.