Stories
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Story #004: Auspicious 14

As I mentioned earlier, working at Cost Plus Imports (now Cost Plus World Markets) provided me with many opportunities to meet people. In addition to getting to some customers (such as Gloria, the painter/color consultant), I became fairly well acquainted with several fellow workers and also met some people through knowing them.

One of my friends at work was a young black lady named Sharon. She and talked about music and many other subjects, and we got along great. Sharon would periodically mention that her sister, Vickie, knew a guy named Bob who wrote music and that it would be great for Bob and I to get connected. Eventually, Sharon obtained Bob's phone number from Vickie and passed it along to me. I gave Bob a call, and the rest, as they say, is history. I can not do this story justice without writing an entire book, but my friendship with Bob has been very significant in my life (we've been friends for over twenty years, now, long after losing touch with Sharon and Vickie). 

Musically, Bob influenced me to learn new chords and strumming patterns, which allowed me to write several songs I otherwise never would have written. Bob also  provided an incredible lead guitar track for my recording of  "Promise No Promises", and we collaborated on a few other songs as well. 

But more than that, we became family. When I met Bob, his wife was pregnant with Bobby Jr., and I soon began to be referred to as "Uncle Mitch". At various times when either of us have needed a hand, we've been able to turn to each other. It also turns out that Bob and I share the same birthday (September 14th, although he beat me into this world by a few years), a fact which came out when I listened to the lyrics of a song he recorded (called "Sonia"), which he wrote for a friend who also shared the same birthday.