Six Degrees of Separation

By Janice Sakuma, 365 Days of Service, Maui District

Bone Marrow Drive. Be the Match!

Advertised by a flyer in our lunch room. At a local high school. This Friday.
Hmmm - who is sponsoring this? As a frequent participant in the recruitment of potential bone marrow donors, it intrigued me that an event just 3 days away, and had remained 'under the radar'.
Called the recruiter Roy - "Yes" he explained, the drive was a Senior Project for Zach. I quickly volunteered to assist.

Zach was holding this drive in honor of his mother, who had lost her battle with leukemia 7 years prior. My husband worked with his mother.  I remember seeing photo Christmas cards of the happy family.

One of the first people to register was Cia. (Short for Cecilia.) I babysat Cia. Even when she had the chickenpox, and I had not yet been exposed. We often ate Campbell's soups for lunch. She spoke of a 'Lewis and Clark' t-shirt that she received as a child from my sister - and how she slept in it until it was threadbare.  "Cia Baby" as my father used to call her was at a precious age when we first met.  Rachel, Cia's daughter, stopped by 20 minutes later to introduce herself and say hello.

Another staff member (who registered in drives organized by Zach's mother,) was the granddaughter of a woman I went to church with ... in the 60's. She enlisted her husband to register this time.

Diane, another teacher was a classmate from grade school thru high school. She registered.
Also stopping by to wish Zach luck, was Donna, my former supervisor's daughter. She also registered in the past for Zach's mother. Never knew she was a teacher.

Gwen, whose son went to the same sitter as April, was there and stopped by to check in on Zach.

Wow. In today's hectic world, it was nice to stop and reflect on the chapters from which these relationships were fostered. Some decades apart. All very separate. Flashbacks to the past.
One might argue that we live on an island and meeting folks from the past is common. A trip to Walmart or the beach, however often occurs with no 'people from the past' (or present for that matter) encounters.

So many connections - once, twice, three times removed. All joined together for a cause.

Are you registered? Be the Match!