You gotta point. Still, I think the novel is a good guess. Of course, I may be guilty of trying to create Mike in my own image!

Would he lie to his mamma like that? ^_~

A novel….. You are going to write a novel about a man who found himself in the limelight and then found his way back home.

Naturally, those of the female persuasion will read it and cry. We will then prevail upon our husbands to read it. They will hate you for being so wise and sentimental.

Someone will do a screen write and the movie will be released. We will pay careful attention as to how the movie differs from the book. Again, we will cry. And when it comes out on video, we will make it convenient for our husbands to watch it, too.

Come to think of it, you may want to use a pen name. Or maybe you have. Perhaps, you are really Nicholas Sparks…

Hearing Mike tell how he met Diane reminds me of how I met my better half.

I was sitting in Bill “The Best Dressed Man at Harding” Lambert’s Principles of Biblical Interpretation on the 3rd floor of the McInteer Building on the first day of the spring semester of my sophormore year. The class was full of bright, young Bible majors, and I was sitting next a friend of mine. By some good fortune, the only seat that was open (well, not counting those in the front row for the nerds) was the one directly to my left.

About three minutes before class started, I looked up and in the doorway stood this vision of beauty with long blond hair and blue eyes, a great smile and who looked great in her jeans (I, too, was not a preacher yet!). At that moment, interpreting the Bible was about the last thing on my mind.

Suddenly, as her eyes surveyed the room, she spotted the open seat next to mine, and started walking over. This was great: it meant she was not a huge, front-row nerd(!) and it meant I had a whole semester of thrice-weekly classes to get to know this fine specimen and charm her with my witty classroom antics. As she sat down to my left, I turned to my right and whispered to my pal, the first few words of “God has smiled on me…”

But unfortunately, after two weeks of class, Sara found out she had a friend getting married on the day of our final. She asked Dr. Lambert if she could reschedule, he said no, and she dropped the class. Oh yeah, she also had a boyfriend at the time.

But do you think those minor setbacks would deter me?

As it happened, about a year and half later, on our wedding day, Sara gave me my wedding ring, and inscribed on the inside were the words “God has smiled on me.”

Ain’t Harding grand? Like someone said, it ain’t perfect, but I wouldn’t trade my years there for anything (except maybe $40,000 to pay off my student loans!!!)

Of course, you’re lucky Diane apparently has a soft spot for ’shy idiots.’ It’s probably why she’s put up with you for this long. ^_~