"If anyone should ever write my life story"

Rhonda and I were chatting about soul music last Sunday. She asked me if I listened to any of Gladys Knight's stuff. I nodded and she started to sing: "said he's leaving on a midnight train to Georgia ..."

This weekend Rhonda will be "leaving" in a sense. She is just days from marrying my boy Eugene. This "leaving" is not a going away lament though.

Rather, she is "leaving" to join her life with Eugene.

So Rhonda, I thought about what you said over breakfast. About starting over and then doing it again. And about love and forever. I like that you can reach back. That you can touch beyond the angst of "running out of time."

I also like that you think my mid-life crush on Rani is funny. I do too.

Did you hear that Jubin George? :0)

AnyHowze, I met Rhonda here. And Eugene too. I left South Africa in June this year and looked them up in Portland. I was surprised to find that I knew them both for more than just my lifetime.

OK Rhonda, I have listened to this Gladys Knight song a thousand times since it was released in 1974 (it is a cover). But when I listen to it now, I think of you. And, I think of Eugene.

These lines tell why:

"If anyone should ever write my life story
For whatever reason there might be
Ooo, you'll be there between each line of pain and glory
'Cause you're the best thing that ever happened to me
Ah, you're the best thing that ever happened to me

Oh, there have been times when times were hard
But always somehow I made it, I made it through
'Cause for every moment that I've spent hurting
There was a moment that I spent, ah, just loving you"

May you always want to write stories. Here's to wishing you both love and happiness, forever.

Peace and struggle,
Ridwan