Talk to Tom

One thing of many I learned from Tom is how to talk to just about anyone. We were at a craft fair in Florida with our friends Joe and Sandy Martin and Sandy said we should put up a booth "Talk to Tom" - he stopped frequently and interviewed people.  It was usually a good thing, only occasionally did anyone hesitate to respond to him.  I realized it  was because he was genuinely interested in them.  Also, I think all this influenced his ability to develop such interesting characters in his books

On the last leg of last month's Michigan trip with Shelley and Peter, a NWA flight from Memphis to Chattanooga, I sat next to a nice man and automatically encouraged him to talk about himself.  He and his wife are newly moved to Chattanooga, here to do an internship in his field for a year. Before the short flight was over, I invited them to come to my house for coffee.  "I guess you're pretty sure I'm not a serial killer, huh?" he said.  I responded that my limited knowledge of serial killers told me they don't bring along their wives.

I introduced him to Shelley after we disembarked and he asked her if I always invited my seatmates over for coffee?  She told him, joking, that I had met all my best friends on airplanes.

Happy Endings from meeting people on airplanes
Tom and I were flying to Saratoga, New York.  Tom noticed a man with a New York paper and saw an opportunity to start a conversation.  A friendship was born and a couple of years later, that man's son married my sister!  They've been married 27 years and have two amazing children.  Yea Talk to Tom!