"Six Degrees of Freedom . . ."

I was struck by that adage of we are all connected by six degrees of freedom.

My usual morning ritual is to work the crossword puzzles in both USA Today and The Washington Post. I stumbled upon a artcle about studios and home featuring James Carville, etal and Cokie Roberts etal.

Six degrees of freedom you say, well James Carville of Carville, Louisiana located just below Baton Rouge in Iberville Parish was the home of the only Leprosy Hospital in the continental US and the of course the Carvilles'. How do I know that, well my exbrother-in-law, George Raymond Nickie" Neck mother was a sister to James' mother. So we at one time occasionally visit the Carville estate for family doings. So that is my connection to James Carville.

Cokie Roberts nee Boggs is my second cousin. Her mother, Corrine "Lindy" Boggs is my first cousin and fairly close to my family. Both Lindy, a famous person in her own right (Retired US Congress Woman and former Ambassador to the Vatican) and Cokie abide in the Cokie Roberts household this day and age.

On rare occasions I Email Cokie but never ever do the same to James Carville. He is just a conversational piece to me. I saw him but once that I can remember and that was at Nickie's funeral some few years back. He and Nickie have a vague but recognizable resemblance. Nickie however was a big man and James is rather smaller in statue but they had similar large egos.

Family is a grand thing. You never know just how far apart we all are. Family is not all blood relations but more often personal relations from our childhood or other close encounters. Kissing cousins, near cousins, almost cousins, employees, fraternity brothers, etc.

The community I grew up in has a relatively ancient in history, more so that similar small towns. The locality began recording legal notices in 1771. That predates the Revolutionary War. Indeed a relative, albeit distant, is my wife's patriot that allows her to be a member of the Daughters the American Revolution. That patriot fought in the only revolutionary battle that occured out side of the original 13 colonies and it was in Louisiana. Few people know that (or care about it) but it is a significant piece of trivia and a muse of history.

I had occasion to retype my mother's book, Early Marriages of Pointe Coupee, 1771to 1841. I noted that in such a small enclave of people inter marriage of families was common and expected. Thus I concluded that all my childhood friends were indeed related to each other, some close and many distantly but related.

Could be we all are related - distantly? Think about it,