R.J. And Me

Thursday at the National Sports Collectibles Convention I met a guy whose story was so much like my own.
His name is R.J. Reyes and he is a Philadelphia area native. In fact he grew up in Lower Marion Township and had the distinction of playing against Kobe Bryant in a High School Basketball game. That story is really nice and it gave me a little different appreciation for Kobe.
R.J. was born with a medical issue that renders his left side somewhat inhibited. But he wanted to play sports and so he played basketball. This one game he was assigned to guard Kobe. R.J. laughed when he told me Kobe dropped 89 points on him that night. But the one thing he did do that made me admire him a bit is with about 2 minutes left, R.J. was bringing the ball down court and Kobe tells him "If you don't score you can't get your name in the paper". So Kobe fouled him on purpose and R.J hit two free throws.
That was a nice story but what really touched me this weekend were the four emails RJ sent me.
RJ is in a wheelchair because of his medical situation. He came by my booth and told me about the many times he met Harry Kalas in the grocery store or out and about in Lower Merion. He smiled until he had tears. I gave him a book on the house and he was so gracious. We talked of home for a long time. RJ lives in Omaha, Nebraska now and has for some time. As he was leaving, I asked him what he missed about home. he laughed and said "Tastykakes". So I got a list and promised him I would return the next day with some goodies. Later that day he emailed me the first of four emails. He told me he had started crying as he wheeled away from my booth because he was so homesick and it felt good to speak of home with a fellow Philly guy. He told me that meeting me and visiting about Harry and about home was the highlight of his convention and that it was "meant to be". That made me shed tears of my own. I got another email later that night and two more over the weekend.
Yesterday he was supposed to come by my booth and pick up his Tastykakes but he was in a lot of pain and couldn't leave the hotel room. This morning his wife Ashley stopped by and I loaded her down with several boxes of the greatest dessert ever made and some Herr's Potato chips as well.
She thanked me and promised they would stay in touch. RJ emailed me later in the day and was so sweet.
This is exactly why I wrote this book. I had no idea when I decided to come to Baltimore that I would meet this wonderful young man and his wife. But there is a plan and as I say in the book..."You never know who is watching your life...so live it with High Hopes".
Thank You RJ...and best of luck to you and Ashley. I am a lucky man to have a new friend.
Craig