"How we met"

August 24, 2005. That fateful first day of school at Lee University. Yes, I realize that I have already waxed eloquent about that day and the class of all classes and how I met the lovely Lore (or perhaps I’ve just run out of things to say, so I’m going over a few things some might have missed…just joshin’). Ah! But alas! I only barely mentioned the other importance of the day.

The guy with the shaved head.

Yes. Yes, it’s true. I almost met that guy with the shaved head that day, but he seemed too busy and down to business for such things. I don’t know what it was, but at the end of that day, there were only two faces that stuck in my mind, and his was one of them (no need to guess on the other…I‘ve already said).

Too busy (or too distracted…or too good…ha;) for such things as introductions he continued to be for the coming weeks, even though his personally chosen seat was right next to mine (I already knew his name, but still). Sure, he was gone for a couple weeks on a missions trip (hmmm…impressive), but there were still weeks of his presence in which the only times he would speak to me--the one sitting one foot from him--was to ask to borrow my pen to sign the attendance sheet.

Until one day….

In Intro to Mass Media, we had frequent guest speakers from the different media outlets. One Wednesday in September a woman from one of the Church of God magazines came and spoke for our class. She was a rather...eh…exuberant…woman, very…excited…and…um…confident…about her work. (As you can see it’s hard to fully explain the experience of such a woman. She was middle-aged, a bit taller than I, pleasantly plump, with reddish curly hair cut to her chin…wearing a bright ankle-length dress with a teal sweater-ish jacket) This was the kind of lady who was proud of her work…and rather confident in her abilities to do both her job and the job of her graphic designer…and her comic writer (she was the first…and only…one to laugh at her comic of “The Purse Driven Life.” “Fifteen purses!” she cackled. “Fifteen! I counted them!”) This, of course, evoked quite the string of jokes from my neighbor to my left. I, who usually does not condone such things, was so annoyed that I couldn’t help but laugh. This chain of joke, reaction, joke, laugh….went on for the extent of the class period. When the class finally ended, we stood up as he charmed me with his humor one last time. Then, finally, the guy with the not-so-much-anymore-shaved head, in his black t-shirt and jeans, introduced himself to me, in my pinkish/ coralish blazer with a teal tank underneath, jeans, and matching teal strappy sandals (I only mention these outfits for two reasons: 1. to show off my uncanny ability to remember random things, and 2. because I would later come to find that, ironically enough, the efforts of my “5th Ave” look were really no big lure to him).

“I’m J.”