Here’s the formal relationship: My wife’s cousin knows the mother of Micah Garen, the American journalist who was being held hostage in Iraq until a couple of hours ago.

Here’s the same situation, this time expressed truthfully.

My wife and her cousin are very close. They are the same age, grew up together, and live within a couple of miles. You know how it can be with cousins: they are the closest relatives we’re allowed to dislike, but they can also be a friend so close that you share DNA. This weekend we’re together here on Martha’s Vineyard along with our extended family. (The wifi is working and I have a comfortable roost on the couch, so don’t worry about my being forced to go outside.) Micah’s mother and my wife’s cousin are both members of a small craft group that is a central part of my cousin’s life.

So, although I am three or four degrees away from Micah Garen, I feel directly connected to him through two people I love, a close collegial relationship, and the the love of a mother. I have been checking the news frequently and felt a pall lift when Al Jazeera first ran the news of his release.

Some degrees are closer than others.

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