I had two conversations with the movie star. My first, as we were awaiting  taxis from a Dallas hotel bac in the sixties.

Of course, I recognized him and his porkpie hat and he was most gracious. The next conversation occurred when our phone rang at our Bryan home, years later. I do not recall the entire number or area code, but 0458 were the last digits. My “Hello” brought about a long pause and then, “Who is This!” , and my response, “This is Jim, who is this?” “This is Jack, why are you answering my phone? Where is my wife?” 

“Well, this is MY phone and I do not know where your wife is, but mine is right here.”  Another pause, then, “Look, this is Jack Lemmon and I’m in Canada with a terrible show and I need to speak to my wife”. “Well, Jack, my name is Jim Austin and I’m at home in Bryan, Texas with my wife. I think you got the wrong number.” He had dialed the wrong area code. “Oh! Sorry, excuse the ring”, “CLICK”!

I never called him again, but was tempted, donchaknow. Really. All I would have had to do was dial his area code and my number, but that simply wasn’t acceptable. After the directory was published, we always changed our number and I would think he did as soon as he could, back then. 

Just another interesting happenstance of life. I always was a fan of Jack Lemmon, for many reasons. I wonder what his Spiritual condition was and who, if anyone, shared Jesus Christ with him. 

And that’s what I get from MY box of chocolates.    AMEN