Degrees of Separation

A teacher in our school system died just a couple of days of ago. Every once in a sad while, I've received email messages with "Sad News" in the subject line, but this time I received three in one hour. The truth is that I have never met the woman who passed away, but I'd heard her name countless times. She was the wife of my sons' elementary school principal, and because of the husband and wife's experience in the county, just about everyone I've met in Arlington has worked with one or the other in some capacity. They'd beat Kevin Bacon in two turns if they ever had the chance. 

Here are some, but not all, of the connections: She met her husband at the school where I teach. Her husband was an English teacher, like me. He taught at the middle school where I once taught and worked, and many of my former colleagues knew him then, and later taught their two sons. Next, he was an AP at the high school my oldest son attended, under the principal that hired me for my first teaching job. For many years, she has been a Special Education where my mother worked--one of my friends' son has spent many hours this year in her classroom. 

I regularly remark on the small town qualities of where we live, but this family brings it up a notch. There are so many who are mourning the loss of her now. Students, parents, colleagues, friends, and family must feel the weight of her good life as they say their good-byes. As an outsider looking in, her departure reminds me that we are all in this together, whether we can map that web or not. Sad news sinks in when we have a connection, but even when we don't, our hearts might open wide just the same.