P E R S P E C T I V E S

There is a phrase that identifies the "phenomenon" where two strangers, upon meeting, find they have something or somebody in common. This automatically connects them and provides a basis for further communication. This phrase is called "six degrees of separation".

Sociologists have found that strangers can connect with each other because they know someone who knows someone who knows someone Ö up to six times this occurrence or "six degrees of separation". For example, after meeting my future husband, we ascertained that although we had never met before, we had several friends in common. This instantly created a bond between us and helped our relationship progress. In our circumstances, only about two degrees of separation had been between us.

InterestingŢut, relevant? I suppose as a bit of trivia we can experiment with this unique idea for a while. We can disprove or prove that we are not all strangers. We can observe that we live in a more unified world than we believed it to be. Or we can just laugh a bit and move on to the next page in the journal.

On the other hand, we can choose a time period in history and observe if we are in any way linked to it by way of another person. Consider the Black Days of June during the early 40s in Lithuania. Then consider a young, say, 12 year-old American-born child of Lithuanian descent living in the present. Can we find something in common within those six degrees? Surprisingly, yes.

The connection began with the child whose grandfather has a brother, mother, and father who had been exiled to Siberia during the Soviet purges of June. This one degree of separation binds this child to an event in history, which will be guaranteed not to be forgotten because of this connection. The memories will be retained and presented to the next generation or "degree". The facts will be used to warn the future against such heinous crimes against a nation of people.

It only goes to show that we canÒ´ ever totally remove ourselves from each other, our heritage, or our countryÒ³ sufferings. We can only start to include others within these "degrees of separation" to allow LithuaniaÒ³ people to be remembered.