Occasionally the stars align and briefly the world is perfect. This was our Tuesday. Tuesday we drove up to Ramstein air force base, parked the car, walked into the American mall on base, climbed up the stairs, stood in a line… and then sat in a movie theater for over an hour with some very excited people.

But we weren’t there to see a movie. We were there to see a free screening (and free popcorn & drinks!) of Jack Ryan, season 2. And to see Jack Ryan himself… John Krasinski!

Tess managed a selfie with John Krasinski & photobomb by Michael Kelly!

I know, I know. I just spoiled it. But! It was so incredibly amazing. We sat in our theater, with a couple hundred of our new best friends, and anxiously awaited his arrival. Every five minutes or so an AAFES employee would pop their head in and say “five minutes”. Each time they found a new & creative way to announce it so 1) we believe them; and 2) it got us all laughing. The mood was happy.

Finally it was real! And in walked both John Krasinski & Michael Kelly! I cannot tell you how it cheers everyone up when celebrities take the time out of their day to say “hello” to not just the soldiers, but also their families. There is a lot of amazingness being stationed overseas, but the homesickness is real. A dose of John Krasiniski keeps the homesickness away for months!

Can I just say, he is ADORABLE! He’s warm, charismatic, funny. I’m not an The Office fan. I sat in a cubicle for way too years to enjoy the show. But. I absolutely loved A Quiet Place and I’m a huge Jack Ryan fan. Sometimes you have an image of a person in your head, and then reality disappoints. Not here. Not with John Krasinski.

He won us over from the get-go. He came in all smiles, radiating happiness to be there. He made us all feel like superstars. Like we were special. I have three favorite parts during his visit. I forget the exact question, but remember we were there to screen episode 1, season 2, of Jack Ryan. And he’s taking questions on filming the show… and… he forgot which show he was answering questions for. He stopped, turned bright red, laughed (and his laughter is so contagious) and made a little self-depricating joke. He is just so personable.

He also dropped everything, when one of our audience members asked him to take a selfie with her service dog. Speaking of dogs, my absolute favorite part was this bit. Because. 1) Tess & I both cry when we are laughing too hard; and 2) Soren did the “fat suit” get-taken-down-by-a-guard-dog too. To this day one of the best days of his life.

Obviously I don’t have any photo’s of John Krasinski getting taken down by guard dog. But I do have some of Soren. I wrote a little blog post, seven years ago, about Soren In The Fat Suit. Today, I have a couple extra pictures from that day.

Getting the safety briefing

Now RUN!

Crap! That dog (Tarzan) is FAST!

Soren is going down!

Tarzan is not letting go of his target. Who’s a good boy?

That is one happy kid.