Connections

I'm here to tell you that I never really got an understanding of that whole "six degrees of separation" concept that people were so dazzled by several years ago.

But . . .

Here's what happened:

1. I subscribe to the Star Clippers blog. They operate those clipper ships that we love and I like to know what is going on there.

2. Not long after we returned from our Italy/Croatia trip, that blog featured a post by a young woman who had been on the same cruise that we were. I left a comment.

3. Someone at Star Clippers followed the comment to my blog, discovered that I was writing about the trip as well, and asked if Star Clippers might cross-post my posts. Well, of course.

4. Someone in Maryland read one of my posts and wrote to me to say she had enjoyed it and, by the way, she had grown up in Small Town Near Philadelphia. There are many small towns near Philadelphia.

5. But this lady grew up in my particular Small Town Near Philadelphia.

6. So I wrote back and told her that was my town.

7. She wrote again and said she believed she was a bit older than I am, and provided her growing-up address. Which happens to be on one of my walking routes. And which happens to be literally around the corner from the street where I grew up.

8. I recalled a girl a bit older than me who had lived on that street and had the same first name as my correspondent. That girl had a younger sister with a particular health issue and I remembered as a child being a bit mystified by not being able to eat cookies because of having diabetes and being afraid that I would "catch it." (I liked cookies). So I wrote back again, mentioning same.

9. Yup. This woman is the older sister of the non-cookie-eater and, in fact, was in high school with my sister, probably in the same graduating class.

What more can I say?