Columbia Chance Connection

Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”

We weren’t expecting anyone.

Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work.

I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother.

“Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package.

“All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.”

We were all getting a bit giggly.

“That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband.

I told her our names and said she should definitely tell her daughter to drop in anytime. We all laughed some more and she departed.

We sat down to dinner, rather giddy. For a brief moment we had been in some quintessential sitcom episode.

“I’m ba-ack!” We giggled, remembering her dramatic entry.

I don’t know if it was adrenaline or the mere silliness of it all but it was rather…thrilling.

*****

If you’re up for some positive interaction I don’t necessarily recommend walking into the wrong house but you absolutely will be welcome at your local library. They’re inviting you to stop by as a part of their “Learn Grow Connect” campaign.

Screenshot from HCLS social media

Show us how you connect! Starting in September, you can stop by your branch's Social Engagement Station and join our fall photo challenge! Snap a pic, share your story, and you could win our best prizes yet. Here's a sneak peek at Elkridge's but each station is different!

Share photos in front of them all to have the best chance of winning big.

Here's how to enter:

• Visit any HCLS branch

Take a photo with the Social Engagement Station. Post to your feed.

• Tag @hocolibrary + use #ConnectHCLS

Make sure your profile is public so we can see vour entrv! We can't wait to see how you Learn, Grow, and Connect with us!

And don’t forget that library hours are now nine am to eight pm. (Fridays and Sundays differ.)

While I have you here, what’s the silliest thing that ever happened in your neighborhood?

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