Past meets past meets future

As part of my goal to make this as environmentally friendly a move as possible, I've been Freecycling everything I can. People keep telling me I should write a book about Freecycle, and something happened today that showed me what one of the chapters would include.

I posted old file folders and hanging file folders on Freecycle. I received a number of responses, including one from a woman named Beth Zygielbaum, who works for a non-profit here in town. Freecycle rules recommend you prioritize non-profits over regular citizens, but as someone who works for non-profits, I would have anyway. Especially because of her last name.

Arthur Zygielbaum Park is across the street from where I grew up in Montreal. Arthur Zygielbaum was a member of the resistance in Poland during WWII.

When I told her she was the lucky recipient of the stack, I mentioned "and hey, random thought, you have the same last name as..." to which she replied it wasn't random at all - Arthur Zygielbaum was her great-grandfather! She and her brother played in that park once when they were kids.

She came by to pick up the file folders and I had to take a picture with her. I'm going to send it to the local weekly in the town I grew up in - a former local who grew up across from the park meets the great-granddaughter of the man who the park is named for in a small town in the Bay Area? - that's the kind of "small world" moment they'd eat up. 

As promised, when Beth walked into the house, I had to hug her thanks for her great grandfather (and grandfather)'s work. She came with her husband and the next generation. :)