Six Degrees of Separation

Some of you might be familiar with this theory, but for those that aren't here it goes: Six Degrees of Separation is an unproven theory that any person on earth can be connected to another person through a chain of no more than five acquaintances. You may also know it by the game played in the 1990's "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" (because Kevin Bacon was in every stinking movie in the 90's and has worked with everyone--or nearly everyone).

By now you are probably scratching your head and wondering what this has to do with anything. Well, in the adoption world, quite a lot. A couple of weeks ago I was reflecting on how I blessed I feel and how much my life has changed over the past year without even having my child home yet. My circle of friends has grown so much! Since I began this journey I have made some incredible friendships with people that I would not have otherwise met. I met Sherry through work, but we actually began our friendship when I showed up to her daughter's coming home party/baby shower empty handed (her daughter arrived from Guatemala last August). Terri I met in Detroit when I was on a business trip. Instead of sitting with the Indiana people I sat at an empty table. Within a few minutes she sat down. She had also decided not to sit next to her Michigan crew. What are the odds that we would both find ourselves at the same table both adopting from China? And Kristen I hope you don't mind me sharing my version of how we met. First, I should tell people that I am highly competitive, it's what motivates me. When I applied at my adoption agency they asked what kind of personality I have and I put down that I am a highly motivated individual and work best with people that are equally driven. Well, they paired me with Kristina who might even be more competitive than me! I was determined to be the first single with a completed dossier submitted and Kristina was more than happy to egg me on. I had everything completed within a month of applying and was ahead of everyone else. Until I began the wait for USCIS (Homeland Security/INS) to run my fingerprints and send my I-171H. It took 11 long weeks. Well, in January (as I am still anxiously awaiting my I-171H) I see a post on our agency's yahoo group from Kristen telling everyone she had just submitted her dossier to China! Now, I need to remind everyone that Kristen and I did not know each other, this was just a competition I had developed in my head to motivate myself. So, like any good loser I e-mailed Kristen with congratulations. From there we began to e-mail each other frequently and from there long phone calls ensued. Had it not been for the fact that we were both adopting, I would never have met her and we have SOOO much in common. It would have been a shame if we had not met. And if I hadn't met her I wouldn't have met Heather, whom Kristen met at an adoption meeting set up by her social worker. What a small world!