Old friends

I couldn't script a better ending to my awesome trip that already allowed me connect with so many old and new friends. I'm walking to my connection in Chicago's O'Hare Airport and not paying much attention when somebody ducks in front of me and says "Russell??" I was absolutely stunned and caught off guard - it was my old friend Nadine who I hadn't seen since 1999. Totally amazing. Running into an old acquaintance is typically pretty cool...but running into Nadine was really something special for me. Hands down, Nadine had the biggest influence on my life in terms of how I interact and communicate with the people around me. She basically taught me how to really talk to people. Those skills, and the confidence that I got from watching her operate and copying her opened up so many doors for me. When she talked to you, you could just feel her genuine interest, care, and attentiveness no matter how mundane the topic, and because of that, she really endeared herself to her audience. I saw how people responded to her, and I knew how much I enjoyed talking to her...and so I learned from her because I wanted to make people feel the same way when they talked to me. Totally invaluable stuff that I'm extremely grateful for. When I write it down it sounds pretty minor, but I know it had a very major affect on my life.

We completely lost touch after 1999 because our lives were taking us in opposite directions, but I often wonder about her because I still feel and appreciate her influence on me a lot. Nadine's now happily married in Chicago doing a lot of traveling for work, which is how we managed to cross paths. We ended up catching up for more than an hour while I waited for my flight to board. The perfect ending to my VA trip.