Recently, I was visiting with one of my co-workers who was looking through old newspapers in order to find something for the "Way Back When" section of our weekly History page. One of the old newspapers she was looking at was from July of 1978. I thought back to what I was doing at that time. I had graduated from high school a couple of months before and I was making plans to attend North Florida Junior College (NFJC).
When I came to Madison for orientation, I was excited to begin a new chapter in my life. It was a chance at a new beginning and I was more than ready. I had decided that I was going to leave my almost crippling shyness behind and open my life to allow for more friends. Like most plans of that nature, it turned out to be a case of "easier said than done." That is, until something miraculous happened.
That first morning, I was supposed to first go to the Fine Arts Auditorium for some testing. Being new to the campus, I had no idea where the auditorium was, so when I parked I looked around and decided I would walk until I found it, even if by pure accident. That's when one of the most gorgeous girls I have ever laid eyes on walked up to me and asked where the Fine Arts Auditorium could be found. Remember now, I had always been painfully shy, especially when it came to talking to any female. I had trouble with "hello," much less something witty and charming. Imagine my own surprise when I heard myself say, "I don't know, but why don't we try to find it together?" It was an even bigger surprise to me when she smiled at me and said, "Okay." My newfound friend and I spent a great deal of our free time that day talking and visiting. I can't remember her name.
A couple of weeks later, the Drama Department here at NFJC held auditions for “The Music Man.” I had always enjoyed participation in drama productions. Strange, but performing on stage had always been so much easier for me than a one-to-one conversation. The afternoon of the auditions, there was another very beautiful girl there for the audition. That afternoon, this girl and I had the chance to visit. Again, I surprised myself at how easily I was able to actually carry on a conversation with an attractive girl. I can't remember her name either.
One very strange thing about both of these almost seemingly coincidental encounters is that I never saw either of these girls again. I have often heard of people encountering angels at key times in their lives. I believe it does happen. What are the chances of encountering two different people in those circumstances and never seeing them again in a place as small as NFJC in Madison?
If either of my "angels" are out there and reading this, I want to say "thank you." Thank you for helping a shy kid come out of his shell and learn to enjoy life here on the sunny side.