Less Than 6 Degrees of Similarity

B started swimming on the team at the Y in September. She has made many friends and has improved in her swimming tenfold. It has been very fun to watch. But it hasn't been all about her.

I jumped into the swim parent arena not knowing a soul. It was OK. We all had a common reason for being at the Y for one hour, 3 nights a week. I started learning people's names and matching them with which kid they belonged to in the pool. We were a group of parents from all over the Cape, but we began to find common bonds with less than 6 degrees of separation. A few months into the season, 2 of B's friends from school joined the team as well. I was already very good friends with their parents, so it was easy to bring them into the "swim" fold.

What have I learned about these new friends?

*Lee once worked at the May School. The same school that brought me to the Cape with my first real job. Suzy worked there, too. One day we had a field day going through the "did you know so and so"game!

*Laurie was in an almost deadly car accident 8 years ago and already knew Lee because Lee was her OT.

*Laurie's husband Bob works with Suzy's brother.

*Bob LOVES York Peppermint Patties.

*Mark is the mayor of the pool and can fill you in on anything you need to know.

*Dan videos his son every single night, but is also a wealth of info about the team.

*Men can have hour long conversations about septic systems.

*George did some of the remodel on Lee's kitchen.

BUT.... what I learned the other night was the best of all! Lee and I are sole sisters because we worshipped the Red Sox in the late 70's. We were one upping each other with stories for one hour. It was hysterical. We went from sending Carlton Fisk birthday cards every year, to asking Fred Lynn to an 8th grade dance, to kissing Rick Burleson's mailbox, to making scrapbooks of the team, to keeping stats for every game, to comparing who we had signed autographs of, to who lived in our town, well you get the idea..... It all started because I had been going through some old pictures and found a bunch of my Red Sox paraphernalia and brought it up while we were watching swim practice.

I am not sure where I am going with all this except to say that I am so grateful for meeting all these new friends this year. They have provided me with hours of laughs and a bond into a "new" group. My advice is, jump into a new situation and put yourself out there. You never know who you are going to meet and you just might find someone who  is less than 6 degrees similar to you.