once in a great while, a youth worker will recognize me and say hello. this has happened in airports, usually. though sometimes it occurs in surprising places, like foreign countries. but the other day, i had the best one ev-ar.

jeannie and the kids and i were in chicago, out on navy pier, in line for the ferris wheel. and a woman came up to us and addressed jeannie. she said, “jeannie? i just wanted to tell you how much your book has meant to me and my youth group. we love it, and have used it so many times. i was embarrassed to say hello, but my friends encouraged me to come over.”

then she turned to me, and said, very off-handedly, “oh, and hi marko.”

it was awesome! she really didn’t give a rip about saying hi to me. she really just wanted to tell my wife how much her book meant to her. it was a very cool moment!