It's a Small World Afterall ...

Today I learned that the world is not as big a place as we may think ... connections, both familial and friendship are to be found all over the place ... and sometimes their discovery is a moment of joy ... Today was one of those days for me when such moments came stacked one on top of the other ...

Last week I blogged about the article in the Toronto Star about Jeanne Sather and her quest for a Canadian husband ... I've had a few Ontario friends contact me to say they saw my name in the article, and to wish Jeanne (The Assertive Cancer Patient) well in her journey and her search. But today I received a letter from a name and address in Ontario that was unknown to me. Intrigued, I opened it on the way home from the post office ...

The letter began by noting that the writer was pleased to find the name "Ankenmann" in the Toronto Star, and that as a member of that family, she felt compelled to contact me. The letter then cites the family history book that chronicles the 160 year history of our family in North America. A book that I like many others in our vast extended family have a copy of. The writer goes on to tell me where she herself fits in the family tree ...

In writing her back I found the nodules of the web that connects this letter writer and I to be truly amazing ... and many of them emanate forth from the little southern Ontario town of Chesley ... Now to digress slightly, my Maternal family - The Elliots originate from Chesley, and it is the town that our ancestor Adam Scott Elliot founded back in the 1800's when he and his wife moved from Scotland.

My mom and most of her sibs were born and raised in Chesley ... there are many wonderful family stories associated with life in Chesley including the green parrot Grandpa bought while serving in the Royal Canadian Navy and sent home as a gift ... staid, conservative war-time Chesley wasn't fully prepared for Polly who could, and regularly DID swear like a sailor !!

Down the block from the house where Mom and her family lived in Chesley stood the Krug Bros Furniture Factory where my Grandfather worked for a time in the boiler room as engineer. The Krug Bros Furniture Company, and it's offshoot The Chesley Chair Company remarkably had a family connection to my Paternal Family ... and it turns out that the letter writer who contacted me today is a member of THAT branch of the Ankenmann family. She was born and raised in Chesley

What added to the strangeness of this contact is that she included her email address and as I responded to her letter I sat with my lap top at a table that was bought in the building that once housed Krug Bros Furniture, and had been made by Heritage Furniture (Formerly The Chesley Chair Company) in Chesley when her father ran the business back in the 1990's ...

It all just goes to prove that if you look hard enough, even seemingly "complete strangers" are not strangers at all ... but may have connections that run long and deep ... The letter and the many connections made a dreary cloudy day a little brighter ...

Then in the early afternoon I heard from my former "Little Brother" whom I've known for 24 years - since we were first matched up when he was a wee lad of six ... we talked for quite awhile, getting caught up since I saw him last a few weeks ago at his wedding in Shakespeare ... the town where my branch of the Ankenmann clan have long centred themselves ...

Then my afternoon ended with a delightful phone call from a friend ... and a fun dinner with our neighbours ...

So, what started a few short weeks ago with me visiting a "new" blog by a woman living with Cancer and sharing reflections on her journey, has led my journey into delightful places where I've reconnected with some old friends, and managed to make some new ones, and managed to socre an interview with a major Canadian Newspaper ...

This all goes to prove that not only is it a small world, but it is also a world filled with delights, if only we dare to open our eyes enought to see them ... and today they kept dropping into my lap ... Overall, it's been a good day!!