It’s a Small World!

One of the great things in life is that you never know who you are going to meet! On June 9th, my band Different Folk performed at an anniversary party in Lake George, NB. I had received an e-mail earlier this year from a woman who lives in San Antonio, Texas, who was looking for an Irish band to play for her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. I had met the woman from San Antonio several years ago when her daughter attended a fiddle camp that I was running at the time.

The anniversary party was great. We played for two hours and were asked to stay for one more so we could play while the guests were eating. Once we finished playing we talked to some of the guests as we were packing up all of our gear. One woman I was talking to mentioned that she and her husband had gotten their passports to come up to Canada and were planning on doing some more travelling now that they had their passports. Here is how our conversation went:

Woman’: “We had to get our passports to come up to this celebration. We live in Southern Maine.”

Me: “Where in Southern Maine do you live? I have family there.”

At this point the woman made that sound that people who live in small communities make when they are trying to decide what to tell you about where they come from. They figure there is no chance you will have heard of their small town, so what bigger town should they use as a reference.

Me: “I have family in Springvale, Maine.”

Springvale is also a small community in Southern Maine. I usually tell people that my family lives about an hour South-West of Portland.

Woman: “We live about 10 minutes from there. What is your family name?”

Me: “My maiden name is Riding.”

Woman: “Bob Riding?”

Me: “He’s my uncle.”

Woman: “Susie and Alex?”

Me: “My aunt and cousin.”

Woman: “My husband taught with your uncle for years!”

At this point, the woman calls over her husband and we talk about my family and our camp as well. The woman took a picture of me with her husband so they could show my uncle who they had met during their trip to Canada.

It’s a small world!