Wednesday, March 16, 2011

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY Part 3

Fast forward to about six years ago.  At that time, I was working full time as the receptionist for the Welfare Services Department of the LDS Church.  One day a man came to the reception desk and introduced himself as "J. G." and told me that he had an appointment to see someone in the Humanitarian Department.  He had aged, but "J" was still good looking with those Nordic blue eyes.

The name plate on my desk had my first name and my married last name.  There wasn't any reason for him to recognize me or know who I was.  I notified his appointment to let him know that "J.G." had arrived.  As luck would have it, "J" was going to have a little wait. Instead of having a seat to wait, he  hung around the reception desk to chit chat.  I debated if I should say anything about who I was.  After all, it had been forty years ago and he clearly didn't recognize me.

When it became clear that he wasn't going to sit and wait, I prayed that the phone would ring and otherwise occupy me.  But it didn't happen. I got up my courage and said casually, "We know each other.".  He was surprised.  He asked me how we knew each other and I told him we met at BYU way back when.  Then I told him my name way back when.  He had immediate recall.  He said he thought about me from time to time and wondered how I was.  Well, that was certainly interesting.  I said to myself, "It's been over forty years and you still think about me from time to time?".  He was bright and cheery remembering the good old days and made no mention of the way he dumped me...in public, no less.

It took all of the professionalism I could muster to not call him out on how awful he treated me and how he broke my heart. Deep down, I still wanted an answer as to why he had treated me so badly. But it wasn't the time, nor the place, and thankfully, his appointment was ready for him.

1 comment:

  1. I don't remember now if I typed in the verification word, so I don't know if my comment got saved. (I won't say it all again in case it did.) This is a great story and you handled it with grace. He was a jerk!

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