Everything is connected. I don't believe in coincidences. There are invisible threads connecting you and me and other people, places and things in the most incredible ways.

I subscribe to a credo that says if I think good thoughts about someone, good things are more likely to happen. The opposite is also true.

How many times have you been surprised by striking up a conversation with a complete stranger and learning that he or she knows someone you know? It happens to me all the time.

If you spend time looking for them, you can find connections everywhere; and when you do, it's almost always a feel-good experience.

REMEMBERING RUTH

You're no doubt familiar with a theory called "six degrees of separation." I won't bother to explain the genesis or evolution of it. Suffice to say I think the connections are often less than six.

Sadly, Kaye's sister Ruth Vaughan Frenyea Lapiere left this vale a few weeks ago, and it was a sad send-off. She was near the hearts of her family and friends. To the untold babies she cared for as an RN in the local medical center nursery over four decades, she was and is connected in myriad ways.

She was present when thousands of those little ones took their first breath -- and sometimes their last. As you read this, you might be reminded that Nurse Ruth was there on your natal day or that of someone you know.

I believe that we are connected with her wherever she presently resides. And, whether it pleases you or not, I'll continue to talk to her in the same endearing terms I did when I joined Kaye and all the others at her bedside for the month she spent in the same hospital where she had shared her love and nursing skills for such a long time.

I further believe that she will hear me and will respond in ways that I will recognize as uniquely hers.

NO COINCIDENCE

I spoke with a nursing staff member at the CVPH Medical Center during one of those visits to see Ruth and was astounded by the connections we shared. I detected the woman's charming Scottish accent and complimented her on it.

I told her that my ancestors had moved from Scotland to Northern Ireland in the 17th century. She asked me where they settled. I answered, "Letterkenny, in County Donegal."

She explained that she had spent many happy summers as a young lass in Letterkenny and had often visited Londonderry, where the ancient "Littles" left by ship bound for America.

The more we talked, the more connections presented themselves. Coincidences? I think not.