Small World

It never ceases to amaze me how small our world seems sometimes. It is that 'six  degrees of separation" thing. The Human Connection. The Theory is that we are all so closely related, that any two individuals could be connected through at most five acquaintances, or the six degrees. Some believe it to be an Urban Myth.

I like the theory myself, I am amazed at who I meet sometimes, who know people, who know people, I know. My dad died in the military over fifty years ago. He was kiiled in a fire, on the USS Bennington, in the Atlantic along with a hundred other men. My family went to the 50th reunion of that tradegy a few years ago in Newport Rhode Island. Before I went, I sent a note to the organizer and asked if he knew anyone who actually knew my father. He said he would send a note to the crew members. I was only four years old when my dad died, so I did not have a lot of memories, of him.

I met a lot of people at the reunion, but none who actually knew my father. When I returned to Naples, I got a letter from a man who actually lived in Naples. He knew my father, in fact he worked for my father on the ship. I went all the way to Rhode Island, and the one person I was looking for was right here in Naples. We met, and he was a delightful man with lots of stories and anedotes about my father. I enjoyed the meeting. One email to Bennington Crew members, thousands and thousands of  people, and from that email, three people have now contacted me, who knew my father. Wow!

One more story, and you will believe we really live in a small world. Recently I went to a highschool reunion. I met someone I went through twelve years of school with. I had not seen her in over forty years. The reunion was on Friday night. On Saturday morning, I was running some errands which took me a few hours. On my way back home, I randomly stopped at a flea market. I parked my car walked into the market, turned right and stopped at the first booth. someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was my highschool friend. I had not seen her in forty years, and the day after the reunion, I ran into her again. It is a small world. I bet some of you have better stories than these. Let me know.