An interesting story....

Last week I stopped into Panera's to buy some bagels to have around the house when Chris was home for Thanksgiving. I was standing at the counter, drooling over the variety of bagels, cookies, etc., drool., etc., drool., etc. I didn't really pay attention to any of the customers, and was surprised when this gentleman came up to me and said, "Well hello honey! How are you doing? Can I have a hug?" He had a young boy (about 12 years old) with him and both he and the boy looked incredibly familiar. Having a certified "PH brain," I assumed that I knew the guy and just couldn't remember exactly who he was and where I knew him from. I was thinking he was one of the docs from the med center and that most likely they had both been to our annual Christmas open house. Then he asked me why I had oxygen. OK, now I'm starting to wonder who this guy is that he doesn't know what's wrong with me. Maybe I taught his son or one of his other children. So, I told him all about PH, doing my normal "let me teach you all about pulmonary hypertension" speech. All of a sudden he said, "You know, I hope you don't mind that I gave you a hug. I know WE DON"T KNOW EACH OTHER, but you looked like you needed a hug!" Holy crap!! Here I've been all nice and cozy to a COMPLETE STRANGER!! Then he told me he was an author and that he wrote a book called, "Prayer Poems to Live By" and would I like him to mail me a copy? He asked me if I "had a card" with my address which of course I didn't but I did rip off a piece of paper and wrote down my address. (In retrospect, that was probably really stupid, but I was still trying to wrap my hear around the fact that I thought I knew this guy and I didn't, I gave this stranger a hug and he wanted to give me a gift!)
Thanksgiving came and went and this week I received a package in the mail. It was the book from this "stranger." It is a self-published book filled with very nice prayers in the form of poems. I looked at his name and his picture (that was on the back of the book) and still couldn't get past that feeling of somehow knowing this guy. So, being a techno-wonder, I decided to "Google" the guy. Well, I figured out how I knew the guy...he had been prominently in the news a couple of years ago. Here's the headline:

"Former Strip Club Owner Denied Liquor License"

I knew the guy and his son from the news. He wanted to open a new restaurant and was going to name it after his son. Because of his former business the neighborhood thought he would open a similar type of establishment. From the poems and the comments in his book, it's obvious that this man has been through wringer with everything.

So, it's not everyday that I've been hugged by a "former strip club owner" turned prayer poem author.

Only in America.

Thanks for reading.
Annette