I have always been fascinated by happy coincidences. It makes me think of the experiences that connect you to people in the most surprising ways. Such was the case recently with a promotion we ran at Pituitary World News to encourage people to donate to our mission.
The prize was a fantastic painting by PWN cofounder Lewis Blevins, M.D., which would be awarded through a drawing toward the end of 2024. People who donated were automatically entered to win the painting. Our lucky winner was Annea Massimino, a resident of Hawaii, a pituitary patient, an all-around fascinating person, and, amazingly, a fine artist and art lover. I met Annea through emails after we reached out to tell her she had won the painting, and here is where this story gets interesting.
A few weeks after the drawing and reaching to Annea, I got a call from one of my dearest friends, Victor, a retired ophthalmologist now an entrepreneur, who, with his wife Evye, who is also one of my dearest friends and retired neurologist was in Honolulu where they spent a fair amount of time. I pick up the phone and hear this sentence: “I know you are a famous dude, but I didn’t know you were that famous; I’m impressed,” he said. Ok, I thought, here comes a joke or some smart-ass remark. Victor has a great sense of humor and you never know where the conversation is going when he dangles a sentence like that. “What are you talking about?”, I asked, waiting for the punch line. “Wait till you hear this,” he says and proceeds to tell me they were at this dinner with a few people they know in Hawaii. Somehow, the conversation turns to medicine and pituitary disease, and the person they were talking to mentions she had gone to UCSF and Dr. Blevins’s name comes up in the conversation. Victor says he knew Dr. Blevins and mentioned one of his best friends, me, who started a non-profit publication on pituitary and adrenal diseases with Dr. Blevins. Annea says without skipping a beat, “You mean Jorge?” It’s safe to say my credibility stock went up a few notches. By the way, you can listen to a podcast with Dr. Victor Zsanto discussing pituitary adenomas and vision published a few years ago.

And the coincidences continue; after a few scheduling issues this week, I finally connected with Annea over zoom. We had a great chat. We talked about art, painting, and our past, and low and behold, I found out that she also grew up in Argentina and left during the early seventies, about the same time I did. So we talked not only about the challenges of the diseases we deal with and how much she appreciated winning the painting but also about the friends we have in common, doctors, what Annea called the continued synchronicity of the universe, and the places we have in common. What are the odds?
We are thrilled she won the painting and of our new friendship. Annea says she has been learning a newer art form of kiln-formed glass. She tells me glass is an amazing material to work with as it has so many possibilities. She has been creating functional and “pretty pieces” while learning the variables. “I can feel my fire inside waking up. It’s a wonderful feeling!” she told me.
If you are interested in learning more about Annea’s work, please get in touch here: anneamassimino@yahoo.com – And please stay tuned for our next “giving opportunity” event.+
Thank you Annea for the kind contribution to our mission!
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