Five Degrees Of Separation

Yesterday was a day full of connections, reminding me of the old saying that there are only six degrees of separation between any of us. Reading my newspaper in the morning I saw an obituary for Denny M., who was a high school classmate of mine from the class of '65. I didn't hang with Denny; he was buddies with a crowd of rowdies including my wife's cousin, Steve. I haven't seen Denny for over 40 years, but Steve has talked occasionally of Denny's stint in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam conflict. Denny's obit mentions that he earned the Bronze Star in Vietnam for "exhibiting uncommon courage and fierce determination." Yep, that was Denny, all right. When we were in high school together he used a lot of that fierce determination to get himself into trouble.

Later in the morning I was at the Post Office, going back to my car when I saw a pretty woman power-walking up the sidewalk. When she got closer she waved at me. It was my sister-in-law, Nancy.

After Nancy breezed on by--she didn't stop; exercise walking, y'know--I visited a local thrift store looking for books. I found a couple of good ones, but on my way to the checkstand caught a glimpse of a magazine I've looked for for several years: Salt Lake Magazine from March-April, 1999 with cover model Brittney Lewis, who has been seen around here in print ads and television commercials since she was just a tot. Besides being a beauty, Brittney is a shirttail relative.

How is someone a shirttail relative? Well, I've prepared a chart:

1. Sally is married to El Postino.

2. Randy is brother of Sally, married to El Postino.

3. Cyndy is married to Randy, brother of Sally, married to El Postino.

4. Nancy is sister of Cyndy, married to Randy, brother of Sally, married to El Postino.

5. Brittney is daughter of Nancy, sister of Cyndy, married to Randy, brother of Sally, married to El Postino.

See? That's only five degrees of separation, and that's how you make a shirttail relative.

Adding to all of this connectedness is my brother-in-law, Dave, who is married to Nancy, making him Brittney's stepdad. My connection is Dave is married to Nancy, sister of Cyndy, married to Randy, brother of Sally, married to El Postino.

Dave and Randy are brothers. Nancy and Cyndy are sisters. Two brothers, two sisters, which makes them their own brothers and sisters-in-law.

And what does it make me? Well, somehow connected.

I had a hard time getting a decent picture of Brittney's cover of Salt Lake Magazine, but here's the best of several digital photos I took. From the cover you can see why Brittney gets noticed when she is in the room.

Ciao for now, El Postino