TV is not my thing. Reading is what I wish was my thing. Our home has a TV with no cable, so when a good sports game comes on, we often can’t watch it at home. Such was the case in October 2016 when the Cubs were in the playoffs to go to the World Series.
To solve this problem my husband and I headed to a Happy Hour at a local restaurant to settle in and watch the game. We were sitting at one of those high tables, squeezed in next to another table about 3 inches away.
At the table next to us was a slender, young man who seemed to know a lot of the people working there. The only thing he ate was a huge dessert and, of course, most of the time he was lost in his phone. Everybody has a story….what was his?????
After he left a couple came in and sat down. They didn’t have wedding rings on (which for some crazy reason, I take notice of) but they seemed very comfortable with each other. 
She was full of personality and they told us they were sad Giants fans as we declared our loyalty to the Cubs. We had a bit more of pleasant conversation and off they went.
Two middle aged men then came in and took a seat. They were talking business like nobody’s business. One of the gentlemen had a definite accent. I was guessing he was a mid-western guy, maybe Oklahoma, and being a Kansas girl I have a love for the midwest. My husband was thinking it was east Texas. Finally we asked him. He was from Mississippi. 
The other gentleman was from Maui. Being in the gas business they were in Sacramento for a conference. (Both of these men had wedding rings on.)
After the Cubs got a few more runs we asked him about Mississippi. He told us about the mosquitos, humidity and of his love for the land. I don’t remember ever meeting anyone from Mississippi so the thought hit me.
Why not get someone from Mississippi, I now know, in my birthday book? When his friend left the table I told this stranger about my birthday book and he was more than pleased to write his name on his birthday. His birthday was on September 24. 
He energetically told us a story about how he was once shopping with his wife and several people in the store all had a birthday on that date.
A short time later after the Cubs had clenched the game, we said our good byes, wished each other well and left. We never introduced ourselves to each other. And it hit me, this man, from a place I knew very little about, was in my life for less than an hour. Rarely, if ever, do I remember people sitting around me at a happy hour. But this stranger is different. He may remember the birthday book he signed for a stranger whose name he never knew. I know his name now because he signed my book with “Cleveland, MS” under his name. 
Will I ever see or talk to him again? Probably not. Will I remember that Mississippi native sitting at a table in Sacramento, California? Yes. How special to make a forever stranger – forever special. And thank you, Mr. R____, for signing my book!