Today’s guest blogger is assistant editor Daniel Kessel.
Clean clothes: check. Toothbrush: check. Phone charger: check! I grabbed my backpack and rushed out the door to hop the subway to JFK International Airport. After a few whirlwind weeks at the office and some rapid last-minute packing, I was off to spend Memorial Day weekend with a few friends in Austin, Texas—my first time in the Lone Star State (not counting the time I waited for a connecting flight in the Dallas airport). I was so excited.
Maybe too excited. It wasn’t until I’d already gone through security and boarded my plane that I realized I forgot one very important thing: Call home. I always checked in with my parents before I flew anywhere, for their peace of mind as much as my own.
This time, I hadn’t even told them what day I was leaving. No time to call now. A flight attendant walked down the aisle, making sure everyone had their seat belts fastened and electronic devices turned off. I sent a quick text to my mom saying I was about to take off and promising to call when I landed.
The second we touched down in Austin and the seat belt light turned off, I turned my phone back on—and was overjoyed to see what my mom had sent. “OMG…I thought you may be leaving today…look at this playout I have in scrabble! LOL!!! Safe travels and have a blast!”
I had to laugh. Thanks to a little bit of mother’s intuition, my mom’s good sense of humor and a popular word game, my parents already knew that I was “en route” to Texas. Clearly, I’d had nothing to worry about.
It’s not the first time 7 letters have “randomly” scrambled together to deliver a much-needed message. Contributor Vikki Wong wrote how a dreary game of Scrabble turned into a miraculous occasion when she drew three letter tiles that put a smile on her face.
Brian Frank of Massillon, Ohio, shared how he and his sister were playing Words With Friends after their father’s death when her letters formed a sentence that comforted the whole family.
On Facebook, we published a story from Penny Jo Veschusio of Rome, New York, whose letters spelled out reassuring words of love on a particularly difficult holiday weekend.
What are the chances that all these letter combos happened on their own? I’m sure a mathematician could figure out the odds—but how can we explain the fact that these letters fell in just the right order, at times when they meant so much? As Penny Jo wrote, it seems like all these messages of hope and comfort were arranged—by a force more powerful than us.
What messages have you received through a word game, or some other puzzle? Share your stories with us!
