Six Degrees Of Separation

Ever since President Lyndon Johnson waved to me and my friend, Peggy, while visiting the White House in 1965, I have found myself intersecting in remote ways with well-known others. Yet I remain in sync with Emily Dickinson's poem...."I am nobody. Who are you. Are you a nobody too?"

Received a telephone call from Kathleen last night. She was up late painting in her studio on the Amalfi coast of Italy. During the two-hour conversation, topics were abundant. She told me about her new favorite activity...beach badminton and volleyball. She also described the 10 x 10 foot painting she had just completed...a single red rose commissioned by Valentino (yeah, the designer guy). He was happy with the commission and brought her one of his high-end red leather handbags. Although, she cares little about such things. Her work in Africa as a United Nations field director is fascinating, as are her political views.

Our talk went from genocide and Chinese oil interests to cancer, dead boyfriends, the simple life. The $7.00 a gallon cost of gas in Italy does not cause huge concern since the people there drive scooters, smart cars, and ride the train to Rome.

Kathleen is an inspiration. Three years ago she was a recent cancer survivor, living a semi-retirement lifestyle in Arizona with her boyfriend, John, who once played drums with The Dave Mason Band...then lived out another career as a mailman who tinkered in his woodshop and golfed. Instead of retiring, they have reinvented themselves by moving to a quaint Italian village and getting married. John moved on into another career as an industrial designer. Kathleen sells her paintings and returned to the work she loved twenty years ago......serving the UN with sustainable development projects.

Six degrees of separation finds the collage of my life taking shape on the less-than-glamorous Lake Erie Coast of Buffalo. The ongoing process of engaging with the world and creating a life is much the same no matter where I am.