That Six Degrees thing...

Something came up about the six degrees of separation thing and everytime it does, it just cracks me up. Because, honey, if you are even remotely connected to anyone or thing in the Deep South? You are at most three degrees from Jesus, the grocery man, Australia and the devil. Trust me.

Last Thursday we drove to Bham to a New Year's Day party at my friend, Mary's, house. She was born in South Carolina, lived in Saginaw Michigan and moved to this corner of the planet with GM many years ago. My mother was her English teacher in high school, and she was my roommate at Auburn. There is no other past connection. (Totally unrelated, The Big Boy and I got into a fight on the way down there because he pulled into a drivethru and took my quarter. The one in the door. That I use to get a cart at Aldi and DO YOU KNOW how complicated life gets if you're in the grocery store parking lot and YOU DON'T HAVE A QUARTER to get a cart? I'm just saying.)

We're sitting in the den and Mary introduces me to a lovely woman and in the chitchat we realize...This is Ann, the woman who sold The Big Boy's Aunt Faye her house in Homewood 40 years ago. My middle child's middle name is Faye, after this lovely aunt. We laughed at the coincidence. I wondered how much Aunt Faye had told her and if I needed to slink silently into another room.

I move into the kitchen, where Gayle is sitting. Gayle rents a house in Tuscaloosa to Paul, my oldest childhood Center Star friend's son. The day that happened and everyone made the connection I got dubbed "The Ambassador for Center Star." That would be me. Gayle also worked with my dad's best friend's daughter, when JoEtta worked in Atlanta. In the past. And that bunch is into accounting/engineering and I have NO connection to anything like that.

But then! The Saturday after Christmas, friends of ours who have moved to Denver were home for the holidays and we all met at the Mexican restaurant for a get-together. And margaritas. And I will be damned if I wasn't sitting in that kitchen in Bham and there was...a couple. And it turns out...the man works for Mary and her husband, and his wife's brother is our friend at the Mexican restaurant Saturday night!!

I was related/akin to half the people at that damn party before it was all over. And since they're all thin business people dressed in designer duds, working the crowd and being fashionable, and I'm just really loud and a legacy...I had a blast!! It didn't really matter where I parked...I had a connection.

Which if you get to leave and go home the next day, can be a good thing.

Image Credit: (another cute blog!) http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/friends/index.html