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Our Story |
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I was out of Evanston and in Detroit for
the National Society of Black Engineers annual convention, the first national
event I had ever attended.
So, on the first real workday for us
Northwestern University had a booth set up at the Career Fair. Somehow,
I got stuck with working alone in
the booth for some time. I believe
Barb was supposed to be manning the table with me, however she was back
and forth with all of her former
MIT crew. MIT always rolls deep
to NSBE, with about 50 students at this conference.
I guess Barb finally decided that she
had been gone long enough and decided to come back. But with her was a
friend from her MIT days
named Joshua. Now, my memory is extremely
poor in associating names with faces, but not in this instance. I still
remember his face. Or shall
I say, his smile. Barb introduced
us and when someone came to the booth with questions, I continued talking
with Joshua while she handled
the booth’s business. Now, I have no
clue what we talked about those few minutes, but I do remember looking
up from my seat at this guy
who wouldn’t stop smiling. Joshua
with the perfect ‘fro, business attire, and the smile.
After Barb finished her NWU spiel, she
and Joshua went away leaving me all alone again. When Barb next returned,
she was alone, but
cracking up laughing! Of course, I asked
what was so funny to which she replied, “Josh thinks you’re beautiful.”
Joining her in laughter,
I asked, “Where did he go?” and pretended
to look for him. And, even though we stayed in Detroit until Sunday, Joshua
and I did not
see each other for the rest of the conference.
Upon returning to NWU, from time to time,
Barb would ask “remember Josh from Detroit? He asked about you.” My response
was
usually the same, “Oh, tell him hello
and send me some email.” However, he never did.
The Reunion
Barb’s note about
the visit ~June 17, 1999
The phone call
June 21, 1999
First date
June 23, 1999
Second Date
June 24, 1999
Well, I had just moved into the townhouse
and was sending out my new info to all of the friends. So, Barb contacts
me and asks
again, “you remember Josh from NSBE Detroit?”
So, I say, “yes.” She then goes on to tell me that he’s coming to
Chicago for a week
and wants to know what’s going on. She
also mentions hanging out.
Since I was trying to get ready for yet
another international trip, I said, “Sure, I need some fun before being
in China for a month.”
I suggested that everyone roll out to
Aurora to the new townhouse for a BBQ or something. Plus, the NBA
finals were going on,
so that would be a good reason for a
get-together. Tentatively, we planned for Sunday night. So,
Barb said she’d get back with me
once she knew more details.
On Monday morning, I received this email (yes, I still have it!):
Subject: Re: what's up...
Date: Mon, 21
Jun 1999 10:39:56 -0500
From: “Barbara
M. Nichols" <triumph@nwu.edu>
To:
stknight@lucent.com
>From: "Joshua Joseph, Jr." <jajoseph@alum.mit.edu>
>To: "Travis Gaylord" <tjgaylord@nwu.edu>,
>"Barbara M. Nichols" <triumph@nwu.edu>
>Subject: Re: what's up...
>Date: Mon, 21 Jun 1999 03:00:03 -0400
>
>okay... its 3 o'clock monday morning
and i am still at the office...
>
>obviously i did not make it in SUNDAY...
>
>will buzz when i get in.. probably
some time Monday afternoon/evening...
>
>-j-
>
So, since Sunday was out, I talked to
Barb to see what the deal was for the rest of the week. I had a road
trip to Dayton, OH
for Chalanda and Terrence’s wedding on
Saturday before the Monday flight to Beijing.
Joshua called on Monday evening and we
talked as if we had known each other forever. We chatted about lots
of things for
over an hour. Somewhere in the
conversation, he asked when I was available to hang out. I said,
and I quote, “Wednesday or
Thursday” since I had my Tuesday night
conference call and Friday would be the traveling day to Ohio. So,
Joshua’s response
was, “Cool, Wednesday and Thursday.”
And, I then remarked, “And? I mentioned or.” Well, you know
Joshua. He really
did mean “And.”
So, on Wednesday, after work, we finally
talked and made a plan for me to come downtown since he didn’t have a rental
car
for his business trip. We would
then find something to do either in downtown or near Barb. You see,
we were all supposed
to hang out. But Barb developed
strep throat. And, I couldn’t risk it with the China trip coming
up.
So, I start on my way downtown and decide to call Joshua and let him know that I’m on my way. Well, no answer. Where is he?
About half way downtown, I call again
and he’d just returned from a run around McCormick Place and MLK Drive.
Now, I’m
thinking ‘he’s brave’, because we have
heard about MLK, right?
So, I get to his hotel, park in the garage,
and go upstairs. I knock, hear movement in the room, see someone
come to the door and
look through the peephole, but the door
remains closed. Then, I see light through the peephole. Hmmm,
why isn’t he opening
the door? So, just as I’m making the
decision to either roll back downstairs or call on my cell, Joshua opens
the door and immediately
hugs me. He then tells me to come
in and I follow him. Now, at this time, I notice his hair.
No more ‘fro, but locks that are
very long. “Wow, more hair than
I have!” I thought. So, I come in and grab a chair and we start talking.
Somewhere after that
first hour or so passes, we decide that
maybe we should actually go out downtown. And, since I have no ideas,
Joshua calls Travis.
He suggests Michael Jordan’s so we can
watch more of the game. So, we roll out.
Travis meets us at Michael Jordan’s, but
the kitchen is closed and we go to the sports room with all of the big
TV’s. It’s very
crowded, so we’re standing in the back
on a staircase. And, somehow I’m in the front so I can see, right?
Nope, Joshua and Travis
are behind me talking. Well, now
I know that it was all good.
We then leave MJ’s and Travis jumps in
the Tahoe with us to go find something to eat. We end up at a Bennigan’s
on Michigan Ave.
And, it’s getting late, so we take Travis
back to his car and we head back to Joshua’s hotel. Upon arriving
back to the hotel, Joshua
invites me up, promising to be a perfect
gentleman. So, we go upstairs and resume our conversations before
the basketball game;
conversations that lasted until about
7:00am!! Now, Joshua’s meeting is at 8:30 or so, and I have a 45
min drive back to the ‘burbs.
So, I napped for 45 minutes and started
that trek back home, totally exhausted physically, but excited about such
a wonderful evening.
Now, it’s the second day of the date and
I am so sleepy. But Cynji is flying to Chicago so we can drive to
Dayton. And, it’s her
birthday and she wants to go out.
So, I let Joshua know that we can either go out before I pickup Cynji or
she’ll have to roll
with us. He opts for the latter, since
he’s now staying at N’Gai’s home after his day of meetings. So, when
Cynji arrives, I give
her the quick scoop on my date the night
before. So, she’s hyped about meeting Joshua. As we arrive at N’Gai’s
home, she goes to
the door first and sees Joshua come to
the door but retreats, as he needs a key to let us in. The look on
her face was hilarious,
but I said, “Five minutes.” We
then get in and Joshua greets us in his usual fashion, hugs for both.
Now, we sit down and I just
want to sleep in that chair, but Cynji
insists that we should take her out for her birthday. Well, we keep
talking, and, before you
know it, it’s after midnight and really
her birthday now. Instead of a club, Cynji now just wants dinner
and dessert, so Joshua
starts calling places that may be open.
No luck, as it’s Thursday night. Cynji then says that there has to
be something opened near my
house and tells Joshua to come with us.
Now, here’s the dilemma. I know I’m too tired to go near my house
and then come back.
So, Cynji tells Joshua to pack a bag
and come with us. Now, what do you say when your girl invites someone
to your house
to stay? OK, cool!
So, we drive back to my house, Cynji and
Joshua having an interesting political debate the entire time. I’m
just trying to stay awake
since I have slept no more than an hour
straight since Tuesday night! We take Cynji to Steak N’ Shake to
get her birthday meal, to
which she was very happy to have someone
to celebrate with her. And, then, to my house. Oh, yeah, the house.
I had just moved
in two weeks prior, so there were boxes
everywhere that still needed to be unpacked. Joshua gets comfortable
in my favorite chair,
but Cynji tells him to come upstairs
to take the tour. Too messy! But he goes anyway. Not
sure what he really saw with all of my
mess, but it didn’t scare him away. Cynji
decides to go for my bed and I stay downstairs talking to Joshua.
I fall asleep on the floor;
Joshua in the chaise.
The next morning, we’re running late,
but I cook a quick breakfast and we all get ready to roll. Somehow
Joshua failed to mention
his tee time with Travis, and gets back
to N’Gai’s house very late. And, Cynji and I are running late because
we forgot about the
time change in Ohio. So, we leave
Joshua at N’Gai’s after a few extra hugs for me and head to Ohio.
Right, a road trip after two
nights of virtually no sleep and a friend
who doesn’t drive more than an hour on the highway! Well, the rehearsal
and bachelorette
party are a blur, but I think about Joshua
the rest of the weekend, wondering when we will see each other again…....