Only God knows the end from the beginning

This post, like most of the others on this blog, will make no sense to some and perfect sense to others.

That having been said, let us proceed with today's offering.

When I worked for IBM in Boca Raton, Florida, which I did for about a decade several decades ago, one of my colleagues was Frank Lindauer (a German surname, I think) and another one of my colleagues was Pete Zambito (an Italian surname, I think). I worked in the same department as Frank. I did not work with Pete but I knew who he was and saw him from time to time.

There was a Mrs. Lindauer and a Mrs. Zambito. Both families had children who attended the same elementary school in Boca Raton. As fate would have it, the Lindauers divorced and so did the Zambitos. Time passed, but not much. Lo and behold, and it occurs to me that I might have posted about this before, the former Mrs. Lindauer married Mr. Zambito, and the former Mrs. Zambito married Mr. Lindauer. Everyone except the local school system lived happily ever after; the school system could not manage to keep straight the fact that the Lindauer children lived at the Zambito residence and the Zambito children lived at the Lindauer residence, and often sent correspondence and report cards to the wrong place.

As Sir Walter Scott once wrote, "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, / When first we practise to deceive!"

I'm not suggesting in any way that the Lindauers' and Zambitos' situation was based on deception because I don't have the facts at my disposal, but a tangled web was woven nonetheless.

You may remember that Sir Walter Scott also wrote, "O young Lochinvar is come out of the west, / Through all the wide Border his steed was the best" but that fact is totally unrelated to this post. Let us continue apae.

This sort of thing (the Lindauer/Zambito scenario) happens more often than you might think. One example that comes to mind happened in the world of Christian music among practitioners of what is called Southern Gospel. It's true. I kid you not. Specifically, and this also happened decades ago, Reba Rambo of The Singing Rambos (Buck, Dottie, and Reba) was married to Landy Gardner. Joy Dyson, also a professional singer of Christian songs, was married to Dony (with one 'n') McGuire. Again, as time passed, both couples divorced. Joy Dyson McGuire ended up marrying Landy Gardner, and Reba Rambo Gardner ended up marrying Dony (with one 'n') McGuire. I went to school in Texas with a Donnie McGuire but he was an entirely different person; his brother Robert dated Diane Howell. Anyway, everyone involved in the now hush-hush Gardner/McGuire fruit-basket-turn-over continued to smile broadly and sing, write, and perform Christian songs of the American Southern Gospel variety as though nothing unusual had happened. Another highly-regarded Christian performer divorced her husband and married the drummer in her band.

William Shakespeare is reported to have said, "All's well that ends well." One can only hope. I hope it is true in the cases of the reconfigured Lindauer, Zambito, Gardner, McGuire, and highly-regarded Christian performer families.

You never know how life will turn out until you live it. Many things start out with good intentions, but as my mother used to say, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

I'm not judging any of these people (because St. Matthew reported that Jesus said, "Judge not, lest you be judgef") and neither should you. As my mother also used to say, "There but for the grace of God go I."