Friday 14 February 2014

1 degree of separation.....

Mitch Albom wrote about the 5 people you meet in heaven..... in this life, on this earth, you are not sure who they are, they may be the one[s] you never even knew exist[ed]..... and of course they may be one who you just know will be one of your five people you meet .......

The premise of the book works similar to the premise of the 6 degrees of separation......

And so there I was this Wednesday lunch time, having dinner in an Italian restaurant in London with an old boss of mine and his secretary, both about to retire anytime soon. I have known them both for more than 20 years but have not seen either of them for at least 5 years.

As we chatted and caught up, the subject of my parents living in Australia cropped up.  

Where are they ?

In Perth..... I replied.

Oh my daughter is in Perth, my old boss said.

What she doing there ? I asked.....

she lives there....

ach erm... [feeling slightly foolish]..... what has taken her to Perth, I meant......

Oh ..... she works as a radiographer at a hospital ....... Joondaulp hospital...... he added.....

As I say, I have known David a long time, since I was 28 years old in fact and as we go through life there are some people who have such a profound positive impact on your life, they stay in your life for ever...... some even end up as one of the five people you meet in heaven....

Mike my best mate is one of those people who has stayed in my life since we were 16 years old... we were once thunderstruck.... I hope Mike stays in my life always.... Those sort of people are rare....

So when I was 28 years old and David was the managing director of a former employer he and I first met. At the time, his daughter was only a small child, and my parents lived in Nottingham. The only link between David and I, was work..... but all these years since we have remained in touch and firm friends....

And so it is 23 years later, and I learn that David's now grown up daughter has been working for the last 4 years as a radiographer at Joondalup Hospital the other side of the world..... who would have thought that 21 years from me first meeting David, and his daughter worked at the self same hospital where and when my dad would die......

When we sat together 23 years ago, if I had said to David, in 21 years time your daughter will be working at the place where my dad dies..... on the other side of the world.... stuff would have come out of our noses......

To add still to the 1 degree of separation... if 23 years ago I had have said to David, not only will your daughter be connected to my dad, but likely as not she will be a colleague of my niece..... stuff would have come out of our ears..... my niece is a radiographer at Joondalup hospital......

Mitch Albom wrote .......

“There are no random acts...
We are all connected...
You can no more separate one life from another 
than you can separate a breeze from the wind...”

It's at times like this
I always turn to 
The Blue Nile


as a Friday bonus SoD......