Blast from the past

This morning, he stared into my eyes and saw into my soul. J, who I thought I would never see again was standing before me and I know I lit up. I wonder if he could see my pleasure from inside of seeing him while we talked.

J and I met via email a few years ago as he was a student contact for his campus for the conference I plan. I was immediately impressed with his leadership and organization, not only for his fraternity, but also for his entire campus. This is a guy who recruited 50+ people (mostly guys) to come to the conference. People loved and respected him.

He was heavily recruited to come onto staff but ended up deciding to do missions overseas. I was sad to hear this as I had developed a little crush on him. To get involved with a student was a huge no-no, but if he was on staff...fair game! He is at least 7 years my junior. That was a little young for me.

So here he was, standing in front of me, telling me about what he's been doing the past year, how he was in Africa doing missions and actually got kicked out of the country. He may be able to go back in a few months, but is thinking he may stay in the states for a few years. Get this...he recruited his mom, dad and brother to come over to Africa to do the same thing. They're still there while he's back in Indiana. Interesting.

His story is amazing and his passion for those in Sudan is highly visible when he speaks about his work. He's a caring and loving guy who wants to help those in need. This spoke to my heart and sparked that interest again. I even tried to recruit him back to staff (as did many other current staff who walked by and stopped to say hi!)

Will anything with J happen? Probably not. It felt good to hear him say he was coming to find me, to see if I was around. I was flattered that he was seeking me out. I told him that it was my last conference and that I was moving to CA. He asked a lot of questions, including one that I'm still thinking about, and was really interested in what I was doing. He's still 7 years my junior, but seemed so much older today as we talked.

After exchanging an awkward hug/handshake (damn, if I had known he wanted a hug, I wouldn't have offered my hand-awkward!) we exchanged email addresses. He did talk to my boss who maybe talked him into joining us in Florida for our staff conference, as we'd love to have him on staff.

What a way to start my day. ;) I really need it.