Connections

As you probably know, there was a horrible shooting at a Unitarian church in TN yesterday, by a man who was motivated by hatred of "liberals and gays". Of course this is an awful tragedy, and my heart goes out to the families and the victims affected by these events.

But I also learned something today.

As I made my rounds on the 'net today, it was really brought home how this 'series of tubes' can connect us in ways we would never have the opportunity to know. I live in Chicago, nowhere near the town where this happened. Yet I have come across no less that four people that I know from various online communities who are friends of or friends of friends of either one of the victims or of those who were there that day.

One woman in TN mentioned going to her first PFLAG meeting at that church. I know her through her fannish connection to a dear friend we both lost.

Another on the Wench's forums said that her parents were friends of the usher who stepped in front of others to shield them from the gunfire and who died from it.

Still another person the yahoogroup that started as a group of people who frequent ICanHasCheezburger - she is a former member who moved away years ago.

(I can't honestly remember who the other one is, so remind me if it's you :))

You can never know how many lives you touch every day.

I sent a short version of this to them via their website - I hope it helps.


UPDATE: And two more connections I was not aware of.
A former member of my college film board (though we didn't directly overlap) and her husband are members and were there when it happened.

And another friend's mother used to go to church with two more members.

It's like a really depressing version of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon".