Connections

Being LDS, having served a mission, and having friends that have served missions, and knowing quite a few friends in Provo provides ample opportunities to find out connections between people. If I meet someone in Salt Lake, I can usually find someone that we both know fairly well. The world just becomes a small place. So it doesn't come as much of a surprise when I find out someone I know knows someone I know. (Hehe, I like that sentence.)

However, there are those times when the connection is kind of bizarre and really cool.

Today, I was talking with a girl named Rhiannon, who is in my major and we've had a few classes together. We came to find out that both her dad and both of my parents had grown up and/or gone to high school in a little place called Morgan, Utah. I decided to ask my parents if they knew Rhiannon's dad, and Rhiannon did the same. Well, later, she sent me a text saying "Did your dad have a brother named Reed?"

Side-story: The answer is yes, I have an uncle named Reed. He passed away before I was born, when he was 13, having been struck by lightning along with my grandpa (who lived) on a golf course. I always remember seeing his picture on my grandparents' wall at their house, and I always felt like, if he were alive, he and I would have gotten along very well. Not too long ago, I mentioned this to my sisters, and they said they had felt the same way! Kind of cool.

So I answered yes, but that he had died when he was 13. She sent me this: "Yes! When he was struck by lightning on the golf course... Holy cow. He and my dad were best friends growing up. My youngest brother is named after him."

How cool is that? I of course was kind of blown away by that, so I told her, and she responded with "You can imagine how I felt, hearing 'Dave Carruth? [my dad's name] Yeah, he's actually Reed's brother.' I've heard about Reed my whole life, and I go to school with his nephew!" [Me].

Anyways, this was one sweet connection to a somewhat random person. Who do you know that I know? :)