Your “Six Degrees of Separation” Story

The post by @coldweatherfan and the 9/11 planes got me thinking. Here’s the first six degrees story that comes to mind.

When my son was working at Harvard and living in Boston/Cambridge, he and his wife (my daughter-in-law) took her younger sister in for a school year. She was 16. She went to class with one of the Boston Marathon bombers.

Orville Lynn Majors, a serial killer thought to have killed over 100 people, lived four houses away from me when he was arrested. We had actually trick or treated at his house. He walked past my house daily on the way to a flower shop he worked at part time, that was about 100 feet from my front door. I was told his mother worked at my store for a short time, but I didn't remember her.

My childhood best friend moved to northern Kentucky when we were both 5 years old. They had previously lived in a Milwaukee suburb across the street from Jeffrey Dahmer.

This thread has taken a grim turn. Excuse me while I go lock the door.

This thread has taken a grim turn. Excuse me while I go lock the door.

Pretty much. :lol2:

I'm struggling to come up with anything.

Pretty much. :lol2:

 

I'm struggling to come up with anything.

Congratulations. Based on the posts so far in the thread that's a good thing for you.

My mothers first cousin is Don Hasselbeck (Patriots, Raiders, Vikings, Giants) and his 2 sons Matt and Tim both played in the NFL as well. Saw them at my great uncles funeral.

My mom married my stepdad, whose son had a son, who played for Roger Harden, who was in the locker room with Magic Johnson, who on numerous occasions shared a workplace with the GOAT, LeBron James.

My first partner of 7 years when I was just 20 was a priest (I know it’s a shock, but he didn’t tell me until 2 months after we met, and by that time we had developed the beginnings of what would be a serious relationship).

Anyhow he took yearly visits to the Vatican where he had met Pope Paul the VI and gave to him some of his writings. He had two PHD’s and was quite the scholar who spoke 7 languages, and wrote a handful of theological books. After that he met with Pope John Paul II and did the very same. While hob-knobbing with cardinals he became friends with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger where he had dinner with him at his German residence, and again shared with him his theological works.

After 7 years together we have remained friends, and when Pope Benjamin the XIV was made the pope in 2005 I had recognized his cardinal name of Joseph Ratzinger and phoned my friend to say are you freakin’ kidding me, isn’t this the same cardinal that you befriended on your trip to Europe, and indeed it was.

Yes life is a trip, and I never set out when I first came out to be partners with a priest, but that’s just the way it goes, and in doing so it helped me as being raised Catholic to remove the mystery of a priest by just seeing him as a human which was enlightening as well as helping me get over my Catholic naivete’.

While I was really trying to come out at that age, being the partner of a priest had me often times for his sake quietly stepping back into the closet, but as time went on things faded in the relationship where I had to move on while still remaining friends with him. It was certainly not the life I had expected, and was indeed interesting as hell, but eventually I had to open my world up to a not so stifling life.

I will have to do some brainstorming, but in my rock n’ roll life of going to countless club shows, I met numerous musical artists who have garnered significant attention or fame.

Off the top of my head there was Elvis Perkins who is the son of Anthony Perkins who I spoke with in detail.

I also met Karl Wallinger who is the mastermind behind the band World Party.

I also had the pleasure of hanging out on a couple of occasions the singer/songwriter Hayden from Canada.

Being intrigued by the folky hippie group Bowerbirds from North Carolina I became friends with them where we often times corresponded online, and hung out together on their 3 club visits to the area.

One time the Austrian band Valina crashed at my pad when they needed a place to stay before moving on to their next gig in another city.

Similar to that the band Pansy Division also crashed at my pad because their rent a’ van was broken into and a bunch of their clothes were stolen and I has off sfer street parking until they could exchange the van at the airport the next morning. They hauled all of their equipment into my apartment for safe keeping until they exchanged their van.

Hung out extensively with the award winning Australin band Youth Group when they played a club show in Covington.

Got to meet and hang out with the group Moonpools and Caterpillers when they came through town.

Met Jeff Buckley and chatted with him while he shot pool before his sold out club show in Miami Florida.

Have chatted numerous times with Daniel Martin Moore.

Give me more time to brainstorm, and I’m sure that I will come up with more…..so many shows with so much opportunity to get a closer chat time with so many artists.

I chatted with David Justice just a few days before he was awarded The MLB Rookie of the year award.

Back around early April 1974 when the Cincy tri-state was being blasted with tornadoes, my long time partner of 20 years was the head court reporter at the Justice Center downtown Cincinnati, and his judge let everyone go home early around lunch time because of the crazy weather. My partner was having difficulty finding a lunch diner that was still open and he eventually found one that was locked but the waitress recognized him and unlocked the door agreeing to serve him under the condition that he didn’t mind sharing the dining area with the other lone guest who just happened to be none other than the legendary Hank Aaron. Hank invited my partner who was a big baseball fan to join him at his table. The very next day Hank Aaron broke the major league home run record that had previously been held by Babe Ruth.

If I could post the GIF of Homer backing into the bushes after reading every word of this thread, please know that I'd do it.

Place-Holder: (GIF) Homer Backs Away (/GIF)

My first partner of 7 years when I was just 20 was a priest (I know it’s a shock, but he didn’t tell me until 2 months after we met, and by that time we had developed the beginnings of what would be a serious relationship).

 

Anyhow he took yearly visits to the Vatican where he had met Pope Paul the VI and gave to him some of his writings. He had two PHD’s and was quite the scholar who spoke 7 languages, and wrote a handful of theological books. After that he met with Pope John Paul II and did the very same. While hob-knobbing with cardinals he became friends with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger where he had dinner with him at his German residence, and again shared with him his theological works.

 

After 7 years together we have remained friends, and when Pope Benjamin the XIV was made the pope in 2005 I had recognized his cardinal name of Joseph Ratzinger and phoned my friend to say are you freakin’ kidding me, isn’t this the same cardinal that you befriended on your trip to Europe, and indeed it was.

 

Yes life is a trip, and I never set out when I first came out to be partners with a priest, but that’s just the way it goes, and in doing so it helped me as being raised Catholic to remove the mystery of a priest by just seeing him as a human which was enlightening as well as helping me get over my Catholic naivete’.

 

While I was really trying to come out at that age, being the partner of a priest had me often times for his sake quietly stepping back into the closet, but as time went on things faded in the relationship where I had to move on while still remaining friends with him. It was certainly not the life I had expected, and was indeed interesting as hell, but eventually I had to open my world up to a not so stifling life.

Oooops....I meant Pope Benedict XVI....not Benjamin as I had originally posted.

Back around early April 1974 when the Cincy tri-state was being blasted with tornadoes, my long time partner of 20 years was the head court reporter at the Justice Center downtown Cincinnati, and his judge let everyone go home early around lunch time because of the crazy weather. My partner was having difficulty finding a lunch diner that was still open and he eventually found one that was locked but the waitress recognized him and unlocked the door agreeing to serve him under the condition that he didn’t mind sharing the dining area with the other lone guest who just happened to be none other than the legendary Hank Aaron. Hank invited my partner who was a big baseball fan to join him at his table. The very next day Hank Aaron broke the major league home run record that had previously been held by Babe Ruth.

Just a modest correction. That day he tied Babe Ruth's record with a line drive down left field line on Red's opening day. Broke the record later that week on the Brave's home field in Atlanta. I was in left field stands on opening day, about 50 feet from where it went over the wall. It was home run I will always remember.