"uhhh... Sir? Ummmm..... yea"

Those were the only words I was sure I would be able to muster to Lieutenant-General The Honourable Romeo Dallaire. This fear led to a few sleepless nights and a great deal of anxiety. Nevertheless, the day came upon me, as time seems to do... and in the crunch - I was able to form complete sentences.

I had some solid support for my fear. That's what happened last time. Jason had to save my sorry ass... while I stood staring at the General... drooling slightly... Jason saved the day by swooping in and having an animated conversation with the General about Heavy Duty Mechanics.

Last night however... was a completely different story.

I went to the appropriate hotel to pick up the General and his secretary. (I had borrowed my mother's car for the evening, which was an incredible blessing with the leather seats, seat heaters, automatic locks, remote start... not to mention that it has a heater... which I cannot proudly boast about my Jimmy.... but at the same time I feel a bit like an adolescent boy borrowing his parents car to take a girl on a date. And yes. My nerves were just as bad as that poor adolescent boy) His secretary David came down first, so I introduced myself to him and we engaged in the usual conversation, weather, flights, Winnipeg and the fans who drove 6 hours to hear the General speak. The secretary inquired about my profession, which I answered and added that I had been a student of IR and that I have been thinking of applying to Carleton for my Masters. WARNING! FIRST THRILL OF THE NIGHT: The secretary gave me his card and told me that IF I were to ever settle in Ottawa, to give them a call because they would love for me to work with them.

I think my heart stopped beating for a few seconds... then it re-engaged a little too quickly. By the time my heart was returning to a somewhat normal rate, the General appeared. He shook my hand and I took them out to the car. About the ride to the University: The General is one of the most GOOD men I have ever met in my life. And when I said "good" I mean the same word that is used in Genesis 2 (and he saw that it was GOOD). And personally, I would lean closer to the BEST man (Not including my Father and my Husband of course).

So so so many things happened last night. And it was such a thrill. I am not going to go into detail about his talk or how we started incredibly late. But I will end with this (WARNING: SECOND THRILL OF THE NIGHT): When I was dropping the General and his secretary off at the end of the evening the General said "Well young lady, this was a perfect evening", and while I beamed with pride they shook my hand and I said to them "I will look you up when I come to Ottawa". The secretary smiled at me, and the General said "You should, we may even have a part-time job for you".