20 Years of Dialing Wrong Number Leads to Thanksgiving Meeting for RI Man and FL Woman
Thursday, November 25, 2021
A Florida woman mistakenly -- and repeatedly -- called a Rhode Island man's phone number two decades ago.
This week, the two previous strangers met in person.
Rhode Islander Mike Moffitt said that twenty years ago, he kept getting calls from the same unknown Florida number -- from a woman who would always apologize for having dialed the wrong number -- before hanging up.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccording to Moffitt, it happened so often, he stored the number simply as "Florida woman."
One day, he decided to inquire further, and soon found out why the mix-up kept occurring -- and in the process, became friends with the woman who kept dialing his number.
And ultimately, the phone call confusion led to a sweet holiday "reunion" for two people who didn't actually know each other.
Until now.
A Happy Holiday "Reunion"
"Gladys...she continually called the wrong number 20 years ago (my number with a different area code). She lives in Delray Beach, Florida and for years she was just 'Florida Lady' in my phone," said Moffitt.
"Her daughter lives in Maryland (area code 410 -- versus 401)," Moffitt continued. "She kept calling, saying OMG I have the wrong number, and would hang up quick."
"I finally stopped her before she hung up and said hey, if we're gonna talk like this, we might as well get to know each other," Moffitt said. "We've talked every few months for the last 20 years in the most bizarre but normal way."
And this week? The two met in person.
"Today we met," said Moffitt of their in-person introduction on Wednesday in Florida, made possible by Gladys' daughter. "I brought her flowers for Thanksgiving and we finally got to meet."
And for Gladys, the visit from her "Rhode Island man" was simply a pleasant surprise.
"I didn't tell her I was coming and her daughter walked me through the door," said Moffitt. "I announced, 'I'm Mike from Rhode Island!' and the first words out of her mouth were 'I'm blessed!!'"
Moffitt saw the silver lining in what had once seemed like a random connection.
"There are incredible people in this world that are a wrong number phone call away," he said
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