There are those who would say that six degrees are probably not enough.

I hear talk all the time about how the world is a little-bitty place. And the circle that encompasses my world grows ever tighter each day. So much so, you can be sure that were I ever to make an excursion to Egypt, I would run smack dab into my eighth-grade history teacher traveling on the back of a camel.

Apparently, I have a very strong magnetic force.

Today, I reached out and snatched someone back who no doubt thought he'd escaped. And I was reminded how glad I am to have this strange force field in effect. Most of the time, it's just too easy for us to fall out of touch and clean off the face of the earth. Decades pass, there are presidential elections and Sunday picnics to attend to, and the next thing you know, someone is off the grid. You think to yourself, "Say, what ever happened to..." and realize that you have absolutely no idea.

But today, another wonder--thirty years later, and there he was. The very same kind eyes; the world's softest heart. And to think, it was just a matter of patience--of waiting for the world to make a couple more long, slow revolutions.

Welcome back, old friend. I thought you were lost.