A few handshakes away ... from everyone on Earth

Because I once shook hands with the following people, I have become but one (yep, only one) handshake away from some of the most famous and interesting people who have ever lived.

Michael Jordan: I previously wrote about my encounter with MJ in a Charlotte hotel. We happened to take the same elevator together, along with an elderly veteran in a wheel chair. I followed along as he volunteered to push the elderly veteran to his room. I told him I liked what I saw him do there even better than watching his six NBA championships. Then I shook the hand that shook the hands of Shaquille O’Neal, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson, to name just a few NBA legends, along with an untold number of other famous people; I am forevermore just one handshake away from them all.

President Barack Obama: I wrote previously about my meeting with the President in the Oval Office at the White House (as part of my induction into the National Teachers Hall of Fame). I joked with him and he joked back. He even told me he loved my hat. He seemed quite happy that I was not being so formal. As a result of shaking the President's hand, I now stand only a handshake away from the leaders of many a nation on Earth, in addition to several former American presidents.