Memorable moments can and do happen when planned for, like seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time on a scheduled vacation trip.

But, sometimes the most memorable moments are unplanned, they just happen.

Nan and I recently experienced one such organic moment. We were visiting Nan’s cousin, Connie Collins, in Phoenix between Christmas and New Year’s. There were seven of us: Nan and I; Connie and her college age son, Will; her housemate, Shirley, and her two visiting adult children, Bailey, and Jake.

We were gathered around the dining room table, the dishes cleared from Nan’s homemade spaghetti dinner – yes, there was wine involved – as I recall, a couple of bottles.

I believe it was Will who got out a trivia game that was all about popular music from the 50s to the early 00s. While it was full of seemingly obscure references to songs or bands, most of the time someone – often more than one – knew the answer.

Then there were the stumpers – “Oh, wait, I remember that one,” and, “Didn’t that group’s name start with a W?”

And the recollections – “Oh, God, my sister used to play that one over and over; drove me crazy,” and, “Wow, that group was popular when I was in junior high school.”

And the singalongs – humming or do-dee-doing a few notes, often off key and sometimes even an entirely different song.

It didn’t take long for the group’s laughter to become even sillier, ratcheting up as each new question seemed to elicit a yet more outlandish response.

Thank you, Connie, for hosting – even though you didn’t plan it – a Truly Memorable Moment.

Oh, and be warned, I am already contemplating a way to include this as a chapter in a future book.