How I stumbled upon Abe

I didn’t get the chance to hear Abe’s voice today because of meetings or seminars and I was asleep on the couch until 10 minutes ago and I know he is fast asleep.   I also know I could call him for any reason at this time of night and I would be forgiven for the intrusion, but I’m willing to try this blogging stuff this time around.

Sometimes I wonder how we actually blended paths considering how different our lifestyles are.   At least I know what kept us together while I lived down there…it was the music.  His musical tastes were less diverse than mine (I was on a jazz and R&B kick for quite a while), however he was always there waiting patiently for me to return from my own musical pursuits.

What really throws me for a loop is the day I first spoke with him.  It seems like Abe was aware of my musical endeavors and the next thing I know, I’m sitting in my cubicle at work and I hear him over the airwaves asking me to call him.  Since this was a small town and I was listening to a local station, it shouldn’t have been surprising to hear such a personal message delivered via such a public venue, but I was city-trained and air time is premium no matter who hears it. Frankly, I was quite embarrassed, but I was also intrigued at the same time.

So I called into the radio station and ended up leaving a message for this “Abe” to call me.  The moment I hung up, a count-up clock began ticking.  How long would it take for someone to replay the message?  Contact him?  Did a lot of women leave similar messages?  Will mine get lost in the pile?  The questions were relentless, including a constant attack of questions such as “Are you nuts?  Are you insane?  Are you ill?  Is something broken?  What did you just do?”

Luckily I had my answers fairly quickly based on the social research performed by various publications…5 hours, 14 minutes and 4 seconds.  Okay.  I am embellishing the exact minute and second it happened, but we finally did connect and not over the phone either.  He was visiting the friend I was staying with when I arrived home from work and the moment I mentioned the event to my roommate, the rest was history…hence the lack of knowing the exact minute and second I fell in love with Abe.  It happened that exact moment on the couch that particular night and we were virtually inseparable for a while.  We rode around together exploring various places, worked side by side together into the late evenings and early mornings, left each other messages in surprising places…all activities he says he misses as well.

But living in a big city takes sacrifice and adjustment even if you have spent much of your life in an urban setting and Abe would have to start all over again at the bottom of the ladder and once again prove his style is worth following.  And even though I have faith Abe could make the changes, I also know he wouldn’t be happy without being surrounded by family and friends.

Which is why I love Abe.  He makes pursuing happiness a pleasant experience.  And even though it’s only a few stolen moments here and there, just hearing his voice is enough to make my heart melt…I’ll just have to wait until tomorrow for fresh conversation to replay in my mind…

and then he triggered my phone to ring.

Damn him!