Four Degrees of Seperation

The "small world theory," hypothesizes we are just "six degrees of separation" between any one on Earth. In August 2008, a Microsoft research team concluded that any two people on average are distanced by just 6.6 degrees of separation, meaning that they could be linked by a string of seven or fewer acquaintances. ...A "degree of separation" is a measure of social distance between people. You are one degree away from everyone you know, two degrees away from everyone they know, and so on. (Source)

1. Shannon Hutchinson
2. Alison Adema (Bethany Christian Services)
3. Aaron (Conf Call Technology)
4. Suzy (Language Barrier)
5. My biological mom in South Korea

It turns out, thankfully, that I am less than six degrees from my biological mom. After I worked with my adoption agency to locate my mom's contact information, finding someone to translate a call has proved difficult. Luckily, two of my friends in San Fran & Washington were able to help me last week with the translation and confrence call.

We called 5p.m. PST, which is 9 a.m. in Korea. I was kind of holding my breath when Aaron dialed the number. I felt my stomach flipped when I heard her voice answer and Suzy started talking to her in Korean. I heard her voice get much more excited as she realized who Suzy was translating for. The distance seperating us was suddently relatively small hearing her voice over the phone. Suzy told her I was well, had graduated college, moved to California recently and had a successful job. She was glad because she wanted to ensure I was healthy, doing well and financially comfortable.

She said she really misses me and wants to see me. I am looking forward to traveling to meet her and my two older bros and older sister. There are so many years, questions and memories we both have to talk about. It's a blessing that I was able to find her at all. Many adoptees search and even visit Korea with no luck. Searching and finding is similar to the proverbial needle in the haystack. For me, the whole process was smooth. The last step in closing the loop is actually traveling to my hometown to meet her. We are still figuring out if the October trip is feasible. Suzy’s mom is part of a Seattle org that takes adoptees on trips around Korea. Suzy and her mom would plan a day to go with me by train/bus to visit my mom and translate. What a great early birthday present, being able to coordinate a connection like that through technology.