The right place, the right people, the right time

"life doesn't give you the people you want. it gives you the people you need. to help you. to hurt you. to love you. to leave you. and to make you into the person you were meant to be."
                 - anonymous

 Right after 9 11 when I worked in DC, I had started dating Shakara. I had a good friend named Henry at the time. As a result of 9 11, my company lost alot of business (some of the companies we consulted were housed in the Twin Towers)  and a lot of us were fired. I didn't want Shakara to know I didn't have a job, and unemployment wasn't going to cover my place. At the same time, Henry's girlfriend kicked him out of her apartment, so  before I asked him to move in to the guest room, he had asked me to do just that. And he paid about 60% of the rent. So I collected unemployment and  I cooked dinner and baked for my neighbors and I drove Henry to and from work so that I could use his car for job-hunting and for my dates with Shakara.  I had managed to date Shakara for 2 yrs without her knowing I was unemployed. She was disappointed that I hadn't told her but impressed that I managed to date her without ever having her pay for anything. Henry was a big help to me. When a recruiter got me a job back in Milwaukee, Shakara moved there with me. Henry paid 50% of the moving expenses.  I never heard from him again. I've tried to connect with him on Facebook to say thanks and to pay him back but can't get a hold of him.

When I  saw that above quote I was reminded of my friend Henry. His friendship came at the right time, and though I intend for good friendships to last forever, it seemed to end at what God might have determined to be the right time.

God is  good God.

tell your husband to stop calling me

                                                         click here

(from a payphone in Perth)

You call every other week, and I don’t answer.

I listen to your voice hearing you say the things I like to hear, but it’s too late to do anything about it, and that’s why I just listen, remembering the way your hand fit in mine, knowing your nuances and your body movements-and I don’t answer-

This morning you called and said "if my father hadn't died we'd still be together."
I almost called you back. But I didn't.

(you said your crazy soon to be ex-husband might have my phone tapped)

You keep calling, and I don't answer.  One day you'll get the hint.

Now That You're Back

Shakara

You have left me

a

lone

and

while

alone

I faced the music

I listened

for the first time

to the lyrics

that hit so close to home

and inspired

me

made me smile

again

made me laugh

made me aware

that there is life

after you

as there was

before you.

now you are back with your confident smile—

                                                                     ----but I have my own now.

Thank You.

--alexgeorge

i was looking for the manual for my tivo  in my bottom dresser drawer and I came across a Diabetic cook book that she gave me that I had put away. It has over 2,000 recipes. Inside there was an inscription;  "I'm going to make every single recipe in this book for you."   

Then her father took ill, and it was over before she made one.

abduction

In the beginning, we soared.  We knew the crackle of constellations, the heat of worlds unborn. Our coupling was cosmic. She said it was in the stars.
When the nights grew cooler, I should have returned to earth, but she promised me the moon. I floated on  clouds.
Now, she's light-years away. No longer the chosen one, I wonder where I've been. Here, in the dark, in church, she left to join a mosque.

A friend challenged me to write a short short story based on the word "abduction", in 75 words or less.  Tell me what you think of the above?