It’s hard to go through this life without being christened with a nickname or two. We all have them whether they’re an abbreviated version of our name, an inside joke, or a reminder of some childhood action. Over the years, I have picked up quite a few including Bunky, Bootsiboo, Lolo, and Jukebox. (Yeah, those are just the nice ones.) However, one of my favorite nicknames is the one that makes the least amount of sense. Strange, I know, but let me explain.

Back in the day when I was in college and heavily involved with the BSM (Baptist Student Ministy), one of my closest friends was the caretaker of the building. JLo and JaRule were constantly on the music charts and you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing one of their songs or their duet, “I’m Real”. Now neither of us were huge fans of either artist but somewhere along the way we started referring to each other as JaRule and JLo. Honestly, for the life of me, I have no idea why. The kicker was that he was JLo and I was JaRule…odd, but true.

Many of my favorite BSM memories involve JLo. From seeing Tony Bennett with a bunch of retired tourists, to late night sledding trips, to the pranks that we pulled on others and each other (the stink bate in Hero’s new car, hanging clown faces in JLo’s room, and my car being put up on blocks), our light-hearted antics helped us survive the stressful ups and downs of our college careers. Even though his job as an officer/engineer in the Air Force has kept him moving from place to place for the past five years, we talk on the phone when we can and see each other when we happen to be in the same town.

For the past few months JLo has been in “Iraqistan” (as he calls it) on his second Middle East tour, and we haven’t had much of a chance to communicate. Christmas cards, a random email, and IM conversations only happen once in a blue moon when you’re thousands of miles away in the land of sand. So I was quite surprised when he popped on to gchat a few weeks ago and had a few minutes to catch up while he was waiting for a flight back to better populated areas. We talked about friends who’d gotten married, who was still as psycho as ever, and all the babies who’d been born since he’d been away. We reminisced about old times and made plans to hang out when he was in town this summer for his brother’s high school graduation as we said goodbye.

Like so many of my friends who have deployed to the Middle East, it always feels like forever since I’ve heard from them and know for sure that they are still safe and sound. So when JLo emailed me earlier this week to say that he had left the desert and was finally home on American soil, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. To celebrate his return, I did what I know best… baked him cookies to mail with a few pounds of Late For The Train coffee beans. Simply put, it’s just nice to have him home.

From left to right: Huston, Me, Zac, Anna, JLo

Took this picture while I waited to pick Jeff up at Skyharbor Airport from his Europe trip.  Just loved it.