Date #73 - David

His Age: 51
His City: Several
Setting: Baggage Claim, Oakland Airport

Date #73 has written and published a couple of books, and leads corporate conferences around the world as his full-time job. His topics are around problem solving and efficiency. He's looking for a partner who can go with him on his trips a lot of the time so he has a sense of home. I wonder who would enjoy that?

His primary residence is in another state, but he's moving to the Bay Area, as his ex-wife moved his twin 12-year-old boys out here. They are in the East Bay, but his preference is mountains. Who can say "Mill Valley"?

We've been emailing each other for some time because our travel schedules were off. He arrived in Berkeley just hours after I was heading to Seattle to lead "Celebrating Men & Sex."

My email to him before I retired for my final evening in Seattle was a long one. I shared with him Eloise's death, and how traveling home the following morning would be difficult since that's the time I gear up to get home to her. I also expressed disappointment that we hadn't met, but I looked forward to meeting him whenever he was back in California.

As I left the Seattle hotel, I was fighting back the tears for my longing for Eloise as I got into the limo to go to the airport. My driver was very chatty, and I did my best to be polite, but I'm certain I fell short. I made it through airport security but as I grabbed my window seat on the plane, I was crying. It was a full flight, so I was embarrassed, but that's how it goes. Grieving sucks.

As the plane taxied down in Oakland, I turned my phone on to see I had a message from him. "I'm so very sorry to hear about your dog. I know this is no consolation, and certainly not a replacement, but I've moved my flight to Chicago by a few hours so I could greet you at the airport. I'm in baggage claim waiting for you. Look for me, I'm the tall one." (He's 6'7".)

Oh.... my.... god! How incredibly sweet, and yet, how incredibly horrifying. My eyes were swollen from crying. I had huge bags under them from exhaustion as I do after leading for two days. I called him immediately, "Really? You're here?"

"Yes."

"Okay, there's something you should know. You're seeing me at my worst!" I explained about the crying and tiredness as I made my way to baggage claim. When I arrived, he gave me an enormously strong hug. I really needed that! And as we were waiting for my bag, I watched the way he looked at me -- yes, he liked what he saw. Hooray!!

We grabbed my luggage, threw it in his car, and drove to a nearby Starbucks, where we chatted for about an hour and a half before he had to get moving to get over to San Francisco airport (yes - he wasn't even flying out of the same airport) to get to Chicago.

This man deserves a medal. He's my total hero.

He's back late Saturday so we're spending Sunday together, and I'm showing him the various neighborhoods of the Bay Area. Guess where I'm starting? That's right; the North Bay.