Just before Christmas, I found out there was a person with the same name as my own living within twenty five miles of me. In fact, he lives in the same town I grew up in.

While my given name is pretty common, my surname is not. The combination of the two is pretty rare. The only other Brian Lenihan I had been aware of is a deceased Irish politician who became rather infamous for inventing the phrase, "upon mature recollection". He also achieved some infamy within my own family because he once hit on my sister in a Dublin pub, but that is another story.

I became aware of the other Brian Lenihan because his Amazon wish list was listed before mine (I believe I have fixed that problem).

I recently got a phone call which went like this:

"Hello?"
"Are you ready for the wedding?"
(pause)
"Uhm, what wedding?"
(long pause)
"Is this Brian Lenihan?"
"Yes, what wedding are we talking about?"
(long pause)
"This is [name deleted] from Sacramento. You're supposed to be getting married this weekend."
"I don't think I'm the Brian Lenihan you think I am. There is another one who lives in Bellevue. He's probably the one you are looking for."
(pause) "I can't believe the phone company gave me the wrong number. I'm really sorry."
"No worries. Good luck."
"Bye."
"Bye."