A French kid touched my heart

When we lived in Paris, Mr. Z and I became friends with the Vice President of Mr. Z's company and his wife, both native-born French. They have five children and we met them when they were very small; four boys and a girl. I received an email from the Dad some weeks ago telling me that their third son, Alban, would be interning at a marketing job in Los Angeles and I asked him to give Alban my phone number.
Alban called the other day and we arranged to have lunch today. He'd sounded a tad awkward on the phone, shy and maybe socially less outgoing than some, so I wasn't expecting too much other than being a good friend and filling my friends' son's Saturday with something to do for lunch.
Boy, was I wrong.
I tell you about him because he embodied something you don't see too much of anymore. I have great nephews, so I shouldn't be too surprised, but this kid was amazing. 19 years old, handsome, smart, funny, very insightful, thoughtful, a boy of faith, and pretty politically conservative.... I can't believe what a pleasant time I had with him. We talked about politics, faith, families, values, culture and sex! (okay, just two minutes on sex and it wasn't gratuitous, I assure you!!)
He said he was ashamed of the French World Cup soccer team (as any Frenchman should be!) because they seemed not to care about France....he said he knew it sounded racist but the minority players just didn't seem to put their love for France above their egos (and he added "that isn't racist, though, is it...we're just programmed now to think it is" !) . It touched me that a kid cares about his country so much BUT did show a good amount of understanding for the immigration problem and wasn't at all xenophobic.
He's just finished reading ANNA KARENINA and talked about how his friends ribbed him for reading a book on his own time (other than school) but how much he enjoyed the story. He told me his brothers and he have talked recently about what to tell their sister about guys and sex when she's old enough to date "we want to protect her," he said. That really touched me. He talked about baby sitting and how the parents these days let their kids do anything they want to and how glad he was that his parents had been strict with him and his siblings and "...I really should thank my dad and mom for this some day soon..." A 19 year old kid, pretty amazing, huh? He sounds like a 'goody two shoes' here but he wasn't at all.....Like he said "I do the cool things, too, with my friends, but I like to read and I like to stay on top of politics and......"
Other than his native French, he speaks excellent English and German and hopes to learn Chinese or Spanish next. He's starting his MBA program soon and even talked about how the elitist French school system rewarded the upper class kids (he's in it) but that maybe it should change to give every kid a better chance at a good job later.......
So, I wanted to tell you about him......I have to admit I felt badly because the world we're leaving these great kids isn't quite what we got, but it was sure nice to know there are kids like this out there. I just emailed his dad and mom.......and raved about him.

They deserve it.
z