By Jim Hagarty
I am not sure I know what serendipity is and I am too lazy to look up the meaning.
Maybe the following is an example of it. Or just something weird.
When I was 17, a wave of “Trudeaumania” swept over Canada as we prepared to elect Pierre Trudeau to lead our country in the 1968 national election. I was in high school and one day, Trudeau was scheduled to visit our small town during his campaign. Schools in town gave their students the afternoon off to go see this rising star.
I rushed uptown for the big event and will always remember the big black limousines with their headlights on coming down over the hill and into the downtown area. Out from one of the cars stepped Trudeau and I pushed my way through the throng to take his picture and shake his hand.
Trudeau was not a married man at the time, a fact that formed part of his appeal. I also was single.
After he won the election, Prime Minister Trudeau took a while to find himself a mate and won many an international headline by dating stars such as Barbra Streisand. But one day, he settled on a non-star and they married.
Their first son, Justin, was born.
It took me another 20 years to settle down and marry and eventually, my wife and I had our first child, a boy.
We always talked politics around our supper table but I don’t think Trudeau’s name came up very often. I guess we passed on our liberal ideas to our kids but didn’t talk so much about individual leaders.
Nevertheless, when he was 17, my son, intensely interested in politics, found his first hero. The man that captured his imagination was Justin Trudeau, the new leader of the Liberal Party and son of Pierre Trudeau.
So here is Part One of the serendipity.
My hero at 17 was Pierre Trudeau.
Forty-five years later, when he was 17, my son’s first hero was Pierre Trudeau’s son, Justin. A couple of years later, he was able to cast his first vote for prime minister and he voted for Justin Trudeau.
During last year’s election, my daughter also got caught up in the new Trudeaumania.
She was 17.
Now here is Part Two.
One day, a year ago, I was in another city when I got a text message that Justin Trudeau, in midst of his campaign to become the prime minister of Canada, would be stopping in my hometown for a campaign event. I drove home, went downtown and got there just as his great big bus pulled up. The door opened up, he stepped out and into the crowd. I pushed my way through the throng, took his picture and shook his hand.
He won a campaign he was not expected to win and is our prime minister today.
It just occurred to me this moment that there is a connecting link to the success of these two Trudeaus in reaching their goals. On their respective campaigns, both men shook my hand and had their picture taken by me.
Slim chance, but I suppose it is possible that I am giving myself too much credit for their victories.
Justin Trudeau has two sons. Who knows, the oldest might run for prime minister some day. I might be 102 and drinking my lunch through a straw but I believe a good campaign strategy for him would be to come see me so I can shake his hand and take his picture.
Never know. Stranger things have happened.
Just not to me.
