Now, a pleasant story

I get out of the shower this afternoon and Brad tells me that I've missed a call from a number he didn't recognize. When I see the number, it's familiar, but I can't quite place it. Doctor's office? Restaurant? 

No, it's my delightful German teacher, Herr J. 

Love, love, love this man: me and Herr J. at the
Hofbrauhaus in South Side on our last day of class 

The long and short of the phone call is that I helped him order some sports memorabilia from eBay early last week and three of the SI issues haven't arrived yet. This man + a computer is about equivalent to me +
performing surgery - that is, not gonna happen - so when I say "helped" I actually mean "did the whole thing." (Although his lack of knowledge about tech is not a result of quesiness and freaking out over needles and any real quantity of blood. At least, I never got that impression.) 

Basically, I set him up an eBay account, but when he couldn't remember the password for his e-mail and therefore would not have been able to activate the account, the whole project threatened to explode, so I said I would use my e-mail address until he figured out his password. I got an e-mail this weekend from one of the sellers saying that he was on vacation and the three magazines we ordered from him would go out on Monday. Since Herr J. doesn't use e-mail, he didn't know this, but I didn't think it really merited a call. Obviously it did, since he was a bit distressed. 

But none of that is the pleasant tale I want to tell. 

Last fall, Herr J. and his wife were robbed - jewelry and sports memorabilia made up a lot of what was stolen, and since they didn't have riders to cover those items, they got nothing from the insurance for them. 

You never met a sports fan like this guy, so his heart was broken. But especially bad was the loss of a photo of Enos "Country" Slaughter's "Mad Dash" during the 1946 World Series. It was signed by Slaughter, a St. Louis Cardinal, and Marty Marion and Roy Partee, two of the Red Sox players involved in the play. All of these guys are dead now, so there's no getting it signed again, and right after the theft, Herr J.'s son was unable to find another one like it online. 

Well, I found one on some memorabilia site and it was $3000 (yikes!), and then on eBay I found something actually feasible, a photo autographed by Slaughter for $65. Herr J. leapt on this.

Today on the phone he tells me that the photograph has arrived. Here's the conversation: 

   HJ:  The photo of Enos Slaughter's Mad Dash Home came and it's beautiful. It's thanks to you that I have it. I keep it in my car so I can look at it all the time. 

   Me:  In your . . . car? [A gorgeous red Mercedes 2-seater - convertible! - in which I rode last week - with the top down!] 

   HJ:  Yeah - you know where you were sitting? Well, to the left of that, b/t the seat and the console. The guy packaged it really nicely, in thick plastic, so it's safe. Every time I stop at a redlight, I take it out and look at it. 

   Me:  That's adorable! I'm so glad you like it! You'll have to bring it up and show it to me once we're back on campus in the fall. 

   HJ:  I would love to! It doesn't take much to make me happy, and I'll get a few years out of this one. 

Is that not, like, the sweetest thing you've ever heard?! It's even sweeter if you know this guy. I can't imagine anyone not liking him. I adore him beyond belief. He's surely the nicest, most genuine person I've met in a decade. I didn't even tell him about yesterday's bird death trap debacle b/c just talking to him made me feel happier. Now, fingers crossed that his Dick Groat and Sam McDowell SI issues show up pretty soon . . . .