The Boyfriend

First - my thanks to Rich for his humorous, informative and spirited blogs of the past few weeks. While there is nothing like being on the course, second best is living vicariously through the blogs.

Richie referenced that Judi, Cara and I have spent the last few week-ends packing and moving Cara from Gainesville to Baltimore. For those statistics buffs among our readership: We shipped 33 boxes - Fed Ex; logged over 60 hours driving time and could fill this blog with stories - such as Cara being stopped by the police in her Apartment complex parking lot in Gainesville and asked to lift up her shoes so the Detectives could see the soles. The night before - there had been 6 cars broken into and the local CSI was on the case. Or later that night - after making the hundredth trip to the Fed Ex - which is open 24 hrs - I went back to the rental car that I thought was mine, opened the door - only to set off the car alarm - of someone else's car. It's a good thing we got out of Dodge when we did.

Let's fast forward to what the readership has been waiting for -- meeting the 'boyfriend.' For those who know Cara - I'm sure you'd agree that saying she is 'private person' is an understatement, especially when it comes to personal matters - like relationships.

And then the opportunity presented itself -- to meet someone that Cara had mentioned a number of times - and someone we knew was an 'important' part of her life -- Cara was a bridesmaid in a wedding down in Pinehurst, North Carolina. We were invited as well - and another 14 hour car ride wasn't going to stop us -- especially since we were given the 'assignment' of picking up the 'boyfriend' at the airport in Raleigh and driving an additional 2 hours to Pinehurst. We were a bit concerned about finding Josh - despite Cara's description of him as being 6'4". Adding to the challenge was that the President's plane had landed at the airport a few minutes before - causing a one hour delay for all other flights. One would be surprised how many 'tall' young men departing planes there were that night. (I didn't think it would be terribly 'cool' to have a small sign that said 'Cara's Parents' -- figuring that I had already traumatized Cara with another sign - "New Driver" that I put on her car after she got her license -- but that's a story for another blog. And suddenly there appeared a very tall young man, wearing green with a great big smile. (have I drawn you a picture -- big, green, jolly ....)

and we met Josh. I have a stiff neck from looking up -- I think I came up to his shoulders -- and I'm 7 inches taller than Cara -- How would I describe Josh - after spending 2 hours in the car, 4 hours playing golf on the most beautiful course I've experienced, having lunch - just Judi, Josh and me - and then seeing him with Cara at the wedding ... I'd describe Josh as:

1. an excellent golfer -- he shot an 87 -- he is a lefty golfer with a great fade and he was booming his drives consistently 225 + yards. (note that I did out drive him on the first and last hole and shot a respectable 94 ...) I can already hear the groans from Byway ... sorry - remember this is BK Golf and more, so Golf does come first. We went 'first class' - using a cart and played in a record setting 4 hours.

2. has the uncanny ability to feel comfortable in any social setting -- striking up conversations with strangers .... there is a tad of Eddie Haskel -- but there is allot I could teach him. (Who can forget back a century ago, when we were moving Mike C. from his parents house in Pelham Parkway and my lamenting with his mother about how I couldn't understand why Mike would want to leave home and what a pity it was ....)

3. He is a West Coaster - from outside LA and spent a few years between college and grad school
working in a scuba shop and becoming a diving instructor. (Did I mention that he holds Emory's record for the shotput, hammer and discus?)

4. In his spare time - he plays bass in rock n roll band and his motto is: Work Hard, Play Hard, Repeat.

5. He is very serious about his work - pursuing a PhD in micro-biology and doing Cancer research.

On the way back we made a stop at Durham and saw Daniel's program -- which will be detailed in a future blog --- 100 6th and 7th graders, 38 teachers (college students from Duke, UNC, and North Carolina State), 4 Teach for America mentor teachers and 4 senior teachers from the Durham Public Schools and the Universities are all joined in an experience that is changing the face of middle school public education in Durham.

So until next time -- lesson learned is that if you are 6'4" and an 'ox' -- you're going to hit the ball a long way.